By Noman Ansari. Photograph by Azad Shrivastav
The Shree Siddhivinayak Mandir Trust Bhrashtachar Virodhi Kruti Samiti met the media yesterday, demanding action against the former trustees of the temple for alleged corruption
The Shree Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi is a place of faith that draws devotees of Ganesh from all over the state, if not the country. Devotees from not only Maharashtra but from across the world visit this temple for Ganapati’s darshan.
The audit of Shree Siddhiviniyak temple’s trust conducted in 2016 has led to some shocking revelations. In the period from January 1, 2015 to August 31, 2016, the then trustees of this trust, under the name of a study tour of donation of electronic appliances and water conservation scheme (Jalyukt Shivar), reportedly spent a total of Rs. 12, 91,291 including Rs. 8,11,259, plus a travel allowance of Rs. 4,80,040.
This also includes expenses of lodging, food etc. “What is shocking is that the Shree Siddhivinayak Mandir law does not permit such travel expenses of the trustees. One needs to seek permission from the government for this. Therefore, the expenses on study tours conducted without the required permission, are beyond the ambit of law. Also, if the state government has budgets for 'Jalyukt Shivar', then what was the need to undertake travel in the first place? This matter is serious and criminal proceedings should be initiated against the said trustees on grounds of fraud and misappropriation,” demanded the legal consultant of Shree Siddhivinayak Mandir Trust Bhrashtachar Virodhi Kruti Samiti and the National President of Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad Adv. Virendra Ichalkaranjikar.
The Bhrashtachar Virodhi Kruti Samiti was formed by Ganesh devotees with an aim to raise voices against the alleged fraud conducted by former trustees of the Shree Siddhiviniyak temple’s Trust.
Kruti Samiti's Co-ordinator Ajay Sambhus, analyst of the said corruption and Samiti member Dr. Amit Thadani, Bajrang Dal's Shivkumar Pande and Shambhu Gaware were present at the press conference.
Advocate Virendra Ichalkaranjikar addressing the conference stated, ''The then Temple trustee – Praveen Naik had organised a tour to Siddhivinayak Cancer Hospital, Miraj (Sangli) from January 27 to 29, 2015. However, one of the bills submitted by him is from one of Goa's hotels. Does Goa come in between while traveling from Mumbai to Miraj ? Obviously, the question arises if he had traveled to Goa for fun and frolic in the name of the study tour. During the same period, another trustee, Harish Sanas, hired a cab from Mumbai to Miraj without any permission. Another obvious question that arises, they traveled through the same route on same dates, then why didn't Sanas as the latter had hired a cab? In this way, misusing temple donations is as good as looting God's money and deceiving the Government. In addition, this is total betrayal of ardent devotees who donate money out of faith.”
The Samiti officials also claimed, “In another incident, the then temple trustees had organised a study tour to Tirupati Devasthan by flight. Why did trustees use an expensive mode to travel squandering devotees' money when cheaper modes of transport were available? Why didn't the trustee board take prior permission of the government before organising this study tour? Also, the report of the tour is ridiculous. Therefore, it is very clear that there is absolutely no need for such exorbitant expenditure. Hence, we demand that the expended money should be collected from the said former trustees. Government was not aware of these misappropriations; but during August 2016, the points given in the Trust audit report by Mandir trust brings out the fraudulent practices of the trustees. In this report, there are some shocking revelations which highlights that without getting prior permission of the Government, the trustees cannot take money from the trust for any sort of travel expenses. In exceptional circumstances, if travel is necessary then prior permission has to be taken and control should be exercised on the hiring of vehicle and on overtime charges given to driver.”
Advocate Ichalkaranjikar said, “Chief Minister should not sanction all these expenses. Also, such corruption should not be allowed and regarding the expenses made without the prior permission of the Government and the money looted from the temple trust, a case should be filed against the former trustees and the spent amount should be recovered from the concerned trustees – this is our demand to the Chief Minister.”
Samiti member Dr. Amit Thadani stated, “During this time, Govindrao Adhik was the Minister of Law and Justice and Diliprao Sopal was the State Minister. These two ministers have approved donations given to the trusts owned by them to the tune of 50 lakhs and 20 lakhs respectively. It has come to light that in this manner crores of rupees have gone into the coffers of many organisations due to the selfishness of politicians citing emergency reasons. The Tippanis Samiti has penned such remarks on the misappropriation of temple trust funds; but no action has been taken so far which makes the matter all the more serious.”
In this regard, Shivakumar Pandey of Bajrang Dal said, "Seeing all the corruption and misappropriation of Temple trust funds by the trustees themselves one is reminded of the proverb, 'the fence destroying the fields'. By putting their hands on the donations given by devotees, the trustees in a way have destroyed the faith of devotees. This kind of theft is more dangerous than the theft done by the servant of a house. He also added the Sant (saints) are better trustees than those who became a trustee by reference.”
Coordinator of 'Kruti Samiti' - Ajay Samboos said that looting the temple fund is a great sin. “These wrong-doers who have committed great sin will be punished by Vakrathunda Ganaraya; but the Government is answerable and responsible for the loot and corruption in temple funds due to Government take-over of temples. Therefore, we demand the Government take stringent action against the culprits. If the Government fails to take the necessary action against the corrupt and fails to collect back the looted amount from them, then we will be forced to start rigorous protest campaigns.”