Shirdi Sai temple trust officials enjoyed air travel illegally with donation money, reveals RTI enquiry

An RTI enquiry by activist Sanjay Kale has revealed that the Shirdi Sai temple trust officials had enjoyed air travel with the donations of devotees. The trust officials have been spending lakhs of rupees from the donations given by devotees. According to Government Regulation or GR dated 3 March 2020, only the officers of the secretary-level have been permitted to travel by air.

Shirdi (Maharashtra): In what can be described as a case of blatant corruption, it has been revealed through an RTI enquiry that, Shirdi Sai temple trust officials had enjoyed air travel with the donations of devotees. Moreover, they have no right to travel by air according to government protocol. The trust officials have been spending lakhs of rupees from the donations given by devotees. Right to information activist Sanjay Kale has exposed this scam and made a demand to the state government to take disciplinary action against those officials who have looted the Sai temple exchequer.

Without permission

The management of Sai Baba temple at Shirdi is run by the law and justice department of the state government. Sanjay Kale has asked the government about the names of officials and employees who have travelled by air. The government has provided a Government Regulation or GR dated 3 March 2020. It says that only the officers of the secretary-level have been permitted to travel by air.

The executive officials and employees of trust, who do not have secretary status, had travelled between 2018 to 2021 by air to Tirupati, Ranchi, Dehradun, Delhi and Mumbai as well as Aurangabad.

Take disciplinary action: Kale

Sanjay Kale has alleged that Sai trust officials have no right to travel by air in the first place. Not only this, despite the trust has a fleet of excellent quality vehicles, the officials have travelled to Mumbai and Aurangabad by air with the money donated by devotees to the trust.

Kale has demanded that the government should recover all the money and take disciplinary action against them.