Guest guest Posted June 19, 2004 Report Share Posted June 19, 2004 > Shirdi Sai Baba Shrine Falls Under Government Control > http://www.deccan.com/Nation/NationalNews.asp > > MUMBAI, INDIA, June 15, 2004: The famous Sai Baba shrine in Shirdi town > of Maharashtra is being brought under the State government's control > following complaints of mismanagement. The State government on Tuesday > sent the Shri Sai Baba Temple Trust (Shirdi) Bill to Governor Mohammed > Faizal for ratification. The Bill, which was passed by both Houses of > the State Legislature, seeks to bring the shrine under government > control. It becomes an Act after its publication in the government > gazette following the Governor's assent. Minister for Law Govindrao > Adik, said, "The temple money will not come to the State government. We > have passed the Bill because there are complaints that the shrine is > not being managed well." > > "The Bill has a provision that will require the temple's corpus to be > deposited in a nationalized bank," Adik said. "The shrine's committee > will be answerable to the legislature." The Sai Baba shrine at Shirdi > had an income of around US$14 million last year. It has an accumulated > corpus of $45 million. A similar attempt to take control of the shrine > was made last year by the government but failed after the Assembly did > not pass the proposal. The shrine, visited by millions every year, is > currently an autonomous public trust controlled by the Charity > Commissioner. The shrine is an important pilgrimage place for people in > Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and in Maharashtra. > > HPI adds: It is possible for the state governments in India to assume > control of any religious institution, though in practice, only those of > Hindus have been so taken over. The action can be taken when, as in > this case, there are charges of financial mismanagement. In the United > States, for comparison, it would be impossible for the government at > any level to take over the finances of a religious institution, which > would be a violation of the secular principle of separation of church > and state. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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