Maharashtra: Showcause notice served to Saibaba temple trust

IBNLive: Shirdi: Sunday, March 17, 2013.

Maharashtra Government has served a showcause notice to the trust managing Saibaba temple in Shirdi for spending lakhs of rupees on a slew of projects without taking its permission, an RTI query has revealed. Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, which spent the money on providing basic amenities like roads in Shirdi town, has been served the notice by Law and Judiciary Department, Sandeep Kulkarni, RTI activist who filed the query related to spending on projects by the temple managing body, said on Saturday.

The department has demanded clarification in this regard from the trust, said Kulkarni, who had also sought details of some other financial matters. Sources in the trust confirmed receiving the notice.

Kulkarni said it has been observed that the existing management board (trustees) of the Sansthan, in the past too, had spent crore of rupees on various projects without taking permission from the Government. The State Government appoints the board of trustees, who manage the famous temple in Western Maharashtra.

Sansthan has given its thousands of employees wages as per the 6th Pay Commission without taking permission from the Government, the RTI activist said. In another violation of Government rules, Sansthan has distributed bonus to its employees, which is not permitted, Kulkarni maintained.