A one-man committee appointed by the Andhra Pradesh government to investigate the alleged supply of adulterated ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has submitted its report. The report highlights serious administrative lapses by senior TTD officials in the procurement of cow ghee used for preparing the laddu prasadam. It recommends disciplinary and administrative action against several officers for failing to enforce quality and food safety norms.
Committee Findings
The committee, headed by retired IAS officer Dinesh Kumar, was formed after a Supreme Court-mandated special investigation team (SIT) probe into the adulteration allegations. The report concludes that the ghee adulteration episode resulted from systemic governance and procurement failures rather than supplier-level lapses alone. It states that tender conditions strengthened in August 2019 to ensure supplier eligibility and quality assurance were diluted within five months without recorded justification or risk assessment.
Responsibility of TTD Trust Board
The TTD trust board has been held responsible for approving the dilution without scrutiny and for failing to act despite complaints about the deteriorating quality of the sacred laddu prasadam. The TTD purchase committee has been accused of recommending relaxed tender norms, accepting abnormally low bids without assessing viability, and approving post-bid price reductions through letters and emails, which the committee said amounted to prohibited negotiations.
Key Finding on CFTRI Report
A key finding relates to the handling of a CFTRI laboratory report dated August 3, 2022, which confirmed adulteration through detection of beta-Sitosterol. The committee found that the report was not escalated through proper channels and no contractual action, including blacklisting, was taken despite tender provisions.
Responsibility Fixed on Officials
Responsibility has been fixed on former TTD executive officers, senior finance and procurement officials, and designated ghee and dairy experts for failing to enforce mandatory FSSAI norms, suppressing or delaying action on laboratory findings, and allowing continued supply by defaulting dairies. The committee pointed out that then TTD chairman Y. Subba Reddy and executive officer A.V. Dharma Reddy ought to have followed up on the CFTRI findings and acted accordingly but failed to do so, which allowed suppliers to continue sending adulterated ghee.
Recommendations for Reform
The one-man committee has recommended a series of administrative reforms to address governance and procurement failures at TTD. These include professionalising the TTD board by inducting domain experts and clearly defining fiduciary responsibilities of board members on the lines of the Companies Act. The committee has also suggested repealing provisions that allow large-scale nomination of special invitees, citing strain on institutional resources and weak governance.
Management and Procurement Overhaul
To strengthen execution, the report has called for setting up a management committee under the existing legal framework, with defined responsibility for implementation, monitoring, and compliance with board decisions. It has recommended clearer demarcation of roles between the board, management, and departmental wings. On procurement, the committee has proposed overhauling the procurement wing, shifting from a lowest-price system to quality-cum-cost-based selection, introducing vendor empanelment, and ensuring segregation of evaluation, inspection, and approval functions.
Quality Control and Transparency
It has stressed the need for an independent quality-control wing, mandatory laboratory testing for all consignments, and full compliance with food safety norms. Other recommendations include strengthening vigilance oversight, improving public disclosure of test reports and suppliers, formalising expert engagement with clear accountability, and introducing a digital complaint-monitoring system with time-bound resolution and escalation mechanisms.
