The temple’s non-hereditary Trust Board positions have remained vacant for over a year
Published Date – 22 March 2025, 08:41 PM
Kothagudem: The dilemma over constituting the temple Board of Trustees for the Sri Kanaka Durga Ammavari Devasthanam (Peddammagudi) at KP Jagannathapuram near Paloncha in the district seems to be unending.
The temple’s non-hereditary Trust Board positions have remained vacant for over a year. The endowment department had issued a GO RT No: 66 on March 6 constituting the Board of Trustees, however, the GO was cancelled due to the turf war between Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy.
GO RT No: 112 was issued by Endowments Principal Secretary Shailaja Ramaiyer reconstituting the Board of Trustees but the residents of Kesavapuram and Jagannathapuram have opposed the latest GO complaining that none of leaders from either of the villages was given place in the Board of Trustees.
Speaking to Telangana Today, Congress leader from Kesavapuram, Gandham Narasimha Rao, said since the temple was built several years ago, residents of both villages were serving the temple as well as the party. It was a resident of Kesavapuram, Barishetty Ramulamma, who first installed an idol of the presiding deity.
The previous governments had given priority to leaders from the above villages appointing a resident of Kesavapuram, K Venkateswarlu as the chairman in 2014 and Gandham Vengal Rao as the member of the temple Trust Board, he said.
However, in the latest GO, none of the leaders from the village were given a place in the Trust Board, lamented Narasimha Rao, whose name was proposed as the Trust Board member by Kothagudem MLA K Sambasiva Rao.
Expressing their dissent, a large group of villagers took out a protest rally, staged a demonstration wearing black badges and submitted a petition to the temple’s presiding deity on Friday, pointing out that it was sad that residents of the villages who were working hard for the development of the temple for many years were not given a place in the new committee.
The matter was taken to the notice of authorities as well as to Minister Srinivas Reddy’s office seeking justice to the locals. If action was not taken to address the grievance of the villagers in the next few days, the villagers would sit together about taking further action, Narasimha Rao said.