Author: Jaya Vati
Publication: www.sulekha.com
Date: June 19, 2004
URL: http://www.sulekha.com/weblogs/weblogdesc.asp?cid=15179
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.
