Tirumala temple fires 243 barbers for `taking tips` from pilgrims

Thiruvananthapuram: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) trust, which manages the Tirumala temple, has fired at least 243 barbers for allegedly ‘taking tips’ from pilgrims.

According to media reports, the barbers were sacked after the temple authorities issued notices in this regard.

Barbers from Andhra Pradesh’s Tirumala temple yesterday staged protests demanding the temple authorities to reinstate them.

According to reports, the barbers staged a demonstration in front of the administrative office of the TTD, which runs India’s richest temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district.

They demanded that they be re-instated on humanitarian grounds as the sacking would deprive them of their livelihood.

At least 943 barbers have been recruited by TTD trust, mostly on contract basis, to work in shifts round-the-clock at Kalyana Katta - the huge hair-cutting saloon complex located near the temple.

While the temple rules say that tonsuring has to be done free of cost, the TTD has received complaints from pilgrims that many of the barbers were asking for tips ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 50.