Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh for the families of the deceased in the tragic Tirupati Balaji Temple stampede, which occurred on January 8. The stampede led to the death of six people, and nearly 40 individuals were injured. In addition to the financial aid, the families of the deceased will be provided contract jobs, and the injured victims will be given special darshan at the temple on Friday.
Naidu made the announcement after visiting the site of the incident. “Rs 25 Lakhs ex-gratia and contract job will be provided to the families of the deceased. 35 injured victims will be provided darshan tomorrow,” he said.
The Chief Minister also assured the public that a judicial inquiry would be ordered to thoroughly investigate the incident. He further revealed that two officials—Goshala director Arunadh Reddy and a police personnel—had been suspended, and several others, including SP and AEO Gautami, were being transferred.
“Judicial inquiry will be ordered into the incident to submit a detailed report,” said Naidu. Acknowledging the failure of the security arrangements for crowd management, he remarked, “I’m not blaming anyone. I’ve been in politics for the last 45 years. Security was deployed but more precautions should have been taken. The officials who were deployed failed. If they had released them half an hour or one hour prior, this wouldn’t have happened. Better coordination is required.”
In response to the tragedy, YSRCP chief and former CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy visited Tirupati to meet the victims and offer his support.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also expressed his condolences, announcing financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the victims who died in the stampede.