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Temple trusts/ boards
Shirdi gives away more than Siddhivinayak
Nitin Yeshwantrao timesofindia 2013/05/13
The more generously devotees give, the more they receive too, it seems. The Shirdi Saibaba temple grossed Rs 1,009 crore in cash collections from grateful devotees in the past four years while the Siddhivinayak temple earned Rs 206 crore. The two religious trusts — the richest in Maharashtra — spent 50% and 13% of their earnings, respectively, on charity in the same period, shows a document tabled in the state assembly by the state law and judiciary department.
For perspective, in 2011 alone, the Tirupati Devasthanam in Andhra Pradesh earned Rs 1,100 crore in donations from devotees, in addition to interest earned from fixed deposits in banks. The Vaishnodevi shrine reported an annual income of nearly Rs 500 crore in the same period.
The Shirdi shrine, administered by the Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, spent Rs 540.49 crore of its cash collection on charity while the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai spent Rs 27.02 crore.
At the Shirdi temple, cash received from devotees rose from Rs 196.7 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 298.4 crore in the eight month period from April to November 2012, a 51% increase. The average annual income of the Shirdi trust for the period worked out to Rs 252-plus crore while the average financial assistance provided by it was Rs 135 crore, a politician familiar with the trust said.
The audit statements of the Sansthan at the end of 2012 showed that close to Rs 150 crore of its money was deposited in nationalized banks, in addition to Rs 50 crore worth of jewellery received from devotees, he said.
Officials said the Siddhivinayak shrine’s average annual cash collection was around Rs 51.5 crore while it spent an average of Rs 6.8 crore every year from 2009 to 2012 on charity. The bulk of its funds are in bank deposits.
The temple trusts say they would spend more on charity but for the many restrictions on imposed on charity spending by the Maharashtra government.
Temple trusts also seat of politics
As much as temple trusts have to do with religious activities and charity, politicians have long jostled for their control, given the generous funds they have and their clout and goodwill. The trustees, who are political appointees, have an important say in how the funds are spent. For instance, the Congres and the NCP have been vying for control of the Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust which runs the Shirdi Saibaba temple.
NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad says the Shirdi shrine’s funds should be used for the welfare of the devotees. “Ideally, the Sansthan should give 85% of its collection to the chief minister’s relief fund. The remaining 15% of the funds should be retained with the trust for dayto-day upkeep and administrative work. A small portion from this amount should be used to build shelters for devotees who trek hundreds of miles to reach Shirdi.’’
He added the Sansthan should spend more upgrading the road leading to Shirdi, rather than on fancy projects like building airports.
