Brahmin coop society becomes saviour to TTD Potu workers

• Potu workers elated over clearing off loans taken from private financiers for higher interest
• Till now, society sanctions Rs 3.08 crore loan to 154 Potu workers

Tirupati: Andhra Pradesh Brahmin Co-Operative Credit Society (APBCCS) Limited becomes a saviour to TTD Potu workers, who are in dire need of financial support, to meet the education, health and other requirements of their families.

There are 806 workers including 600 working under Sri Venkateswara Potu Workers Labour Contract Cooperative Society Limited and 206 working with Srivari Additional Potu Workers Society engaged in the production of the much sought after delicious Laddu prasadams of Lord Venkateswara, Tirumala.

However, they are not entitled to any benefits like the regular TTD employees enjoying more so bank loans through the employees’ bank or the other banks including nationalised and private as they come under the contract employees category though they were engaged in the essential service of production of Laddu prasadams, without which the devotees feel their pilgrimage to Tirumala remain incomplete.

Discreet enquiries revealed that most of the Potu workers were caught in the mire of debts and facing difficulties in maintaining their families with the chunk of their income going to pay interest to the private loan they took for their children education or for any health needs.

Dozens of Potu workers leading a very difficult life with the mounting debts while there are few cases of workers taking the extreme step of ending their lives unable to bear the debt burden.

It is needless to say that the workers of Potu, the temple kitchen of famed Tirumala temple are heavily depending on private financiers lending them on high rate of interest to meet any urgent financial requirements like medical emergency or for providing a good education their beloved children which become expensive now in the absence of institutional finance like bank loans, said Additional Potu Workers Society president Annadanam Balasubramanyam.

As almost all of the Potu workers belonging to Brahmin community are poor with not much education and no rich family background, the banks are naturally reluctant to comes to their rescue which is invariably pushing them towards private money lenders readily providing finance of course on high rate of five to ten per cent monthly interest, he added.

Balasubrmanyam said till recently Potu workers were getting about Rs 12,000-14,000 per month which was hiked by TTD management to Rs 19,000 now after the officials including former EO D Sambasiva Rao and present EO Anil Kumar Singhal and Tirumala JEO KS Srinivasa Raju moved at the plight of Potu workers slogging for 12 to 14 hours to meet the big requirement of three lakh laddus daily to the devotees.

Against the gloomy back drop, the Brahmin Co-Operative Credit Society (APBCCS) started providing short term loan to the Potu workers giving them the much-needed financial support to meet any of their health, education and family requirements like marriage etc.

APBCCS Vice-Chairman C Swarajyalakshmi said that she came to know the plight of the poor Potu workers stirring her taking up their case with the management agreeing to lend financial support of two lakh rupees to each worker following bank procedures which is simple and fast track manner.

So far, the society sanctioned Rs 3.08 crore loan to 154 Potu workers in batches each getting Rs 2 lakh at annual interest of 10.5 percent, she said that in the coming days all the Potu workers, who apply would get the loan in batches.

Besides, the TTD Potu workers, she said that Rs 1 crore loan was already provided to the 50 members of Sathydeva Seva Mithra and Annavaram temple, each Rs 2 lakh.

Potu workers Archakam Satyendra Kumar and Venkataramana beamingly said that with sanctioning of loan from the society they would clear off the private loan they took and also pay the fee for their children education, vouching the society giving a new lease of life to them.