Jaipur: Amid the massive controversy over alleged use of animal fat in Tirupati laddus, the Rajasthan government has decided to run a special drive to test the purity of prasad offered at famous temples across the state. The decision has been taken by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma in view of the alleged adulteration in the ‘prasadam’ to the deity at the Tirupati temple, and to devotees
The drive will be carried out at several famous temples of the state from September 23 to 26. It will be conducted as part of Shudh Ahaar, Milawat par waar (Pure food, war on adulteration) campaign, which was launched by the Chief Minister on World Food Safety Day on June 7.
14 Rajasthan temples have FSSAI BHOG certification
Rajasthan has at least 14 temples, which have the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) BHOG certification. These temples include Jaipur’s famous Ganesh Mandir at Moti Dongri, Khatu Shyam temple and Shrinathji temple in Nathdwara.
Tirupati laddu row
This comes amid a huge controversy over the alleged use of animal fat in ghee used to make laddus of Tirupati temple. According to the purity test report of a Gujarat-based lab, ‘prasadam’ offered to the deity at the famous Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati, and to devotees contained traces of beef tallow, fish oil, and pig fat, or lard.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister on Wednesday came down heavily upon the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party government and alleged that substandard ingredients and animal fat for making laddus were used when it was in power. However, Reddy refuted the charges and accused Naidu of trying to “divert attention” and doing “politics in the name of God”.
Meanwhile, Health Minister JP Nadda has sought details of the matter from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and asserted that the government will take necessary action as per the rules of FSSAI after discussing the issue with state regulators.
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