CBI recommends action on TTD officials for ‘omissions, failures’ in tender terms

Amaravati: In a significant development, the CBI has asked the Andhra Pradesh government to take suitable action against senior TTD officers, including former members, for alleged “deliberate omissions and failures” in tender conditions, leading to the alleged supply of adulterated ghee to make the famous Tirupati laddu.

The SIT accused TTD officials O Balaji, FA & CAO, AV Dharma Reddy, former additional executive officer and Anil Kumar Singhal, former executive officer, of approving tender conditions without “application of mind”.

Finance minister P Keshav said the Cabinet headed by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has decided to treat the people mentioned in the CBI-led SIT letter as ‘guilty’ in the alleged Tirupati laddu ghee adulteration case.

The SIT noted that their actions resulted in the dilution of quality safeguards and a compromise in the quality of ghee procured by TTD.

“It is recommended to take suitable action as deemed fit against the above erring committee members and senior TTD officers for deliberate omissions and failures in both relaxation and enforcement of tender conditions,” said the SIT’s letter to the government.

According to the SIT, these lapses enabled inefficient private diaries, including the accused entities such as Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk Pvt Ltd, Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Pvt Ltd and Malganga Milk and Agro Products Pvt Ltd to gain entry into TTD tenders.

Consequently, these dairies secured the tenders and supplied adulterated ghee to TTD during the 2020 - 2023 period, the SIT alleged.

Recently, the government transferred Singhal from TTD, who held the executive officer role.

Addressing a press conference at the secretariat, the Finance Minister highlighted that the SIT has submitted an 11-page report to the government, holding Balaji, Dharma Reddy, Singhal and YV Subba Reddy and others guilty of allegedly diluting the ghee procurement conditions.

According to Keshav, weakened tender conditions included reducing a dairy’s turnover from Rs 250 crore to Rs 150 crore, excluding the experience of procuring milk and others.

Though the tender conditions were strengthened in August 2019, he said the accused TTD officials had allegedly recommended a diagonally opposite set of recommendations within five months for relaxing the ghee tender conditions and placed them before the purchase committee. In turn, the SIT letter observed that purchase committee members Ch Bhaskar Reddy, B Karunakar Reddy, M Ramulu and Balaji recommended the approval of the relaxed tender conditions during a meeting held on February 18, 2020.

Later, the TTD board had approved these recommendations on February 29, 2020, the SIT said. Keshav asserted that Vyshnavie Dairy did not engage in dairy activities even for one year, and claimed fake documents were submitted for the tenders.

“All the people mentioned in that report are part of the crime, we are considering that as of today,” said Keshav.

Claiming that the alleged ghee adulteration had occurred with the ‘knowledge’ of the TTD officials and committee members, he claimed that “they are part of the crime”.

Moreover, he alleged that the temple body under the erstwhile YSRCP government had suppressed a 2022 report from the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), which had revealed the presence of beta-sitosterol, indicating adulteration in the ghee.