Tirupati, Sep 19 (UNI) Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) politburo member Brinda Karat said that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) with thousands of crore income had denied basic wages to forest workers employed in TTD for 3 decades.

Expressing solidarity with the forest workers who were on relay hunger strike at TTD forest office, the CPM ideologue charged the TTD of robbing the poor labourers despite its huge wealth of Rs 14,000 crore deposits, 8 tonne gold and annual earnings in thousands.

She said the TTD management violated the Supreme Court verdict of equal pay for equal work .

She said before assuming power the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy assured to regularise the services of all TTD contract workers and even the TTD board passed a resolution to give time scale to all of them but no action .

The CPM leader said TTD which got crores as donations from devotees spent hundreds of crores on perks and programs of their choice but not for welfare of devotees and workers.

She said it was a shame that Jaganmohan Reddy government had appointed a jumbo TTD’s board of 81 members but failed to notice the 299 day long agitation of forest workers.

CPM Chittoor district secretary K Murali said a protest rally was organised on Monday to draw attention to the 300th day of the TTD forest workers agitation.
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