Saibaba shrine to be taken over

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Saibaba shrine to be taken over

 

Mumbai, June 15: 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 nationalised bank,” Adik said. "The shrine’s committee will be answerable

to the legislature.” The Sai Baba shrine at Shirdi had an income of around Rs

60 crore last year. It has an accumulated corpus of Rs 200 crore. 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, Karna-taka and in Maharashtra,

where Thursday is a half-day because it is considered a special day.

Arun Reddy Nukala

+44 7946 595063

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