Shirdi: The Shree Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST) implemented the free food token system in the 'Prasadalaya' to curb misbehaviour in the dining hall from Thursday onward, officials said.
SSST Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Goraksh Gadilkar said that arrangements have been made to provide free food tokens after the worship of Sai Baba. He further said that the entry into the Prasadalaya will not be possible without a token.
The initiative took place after several complaints of criminals, drug addicts, and some smokers entering the Prasadalaya and harassing the devotees were received by the SSST.
As per Sansthan's record, on average a total of 50,000 devotees take advantage of 'Sai Prasad' each day. To curb the mischievousness, some restrictions have been imposed on the entry of the Prasadalaya by the Sansthan.
Devotees who come out after visiting the shrine will be given tokens for free food at the Sai Prasadalaya along with Udi-Bundi Prasad. Arrangements have been made to give tokens for free food at the Prasadalaya. Accommodation arrangements and tokens will also be given to the relatives of patients at both the Sai Sansthan hospitals, the CEO added.
Recently, two employees of the SSST were brutally murdered; therefore, the Sansthan is taking measures to reduce crime in the shrine. Meanwhile, a month ago, former BJP MP Sujay Vikhe-Patil made a statement that people from all over the country come to Shirdi to eat for free, and beggars across Maharashtra gather here.
Soon after the statement, an outrage to stop the free food sparked, but instead of stopping the free food, the token system was imposed.
A devotee Nirmal Khandelwal said that he was given a slip. "There is no need to stand in the queue and you can have Prasad immediately."
Another devotee Ganesh Nigam from Jalgaon, said, "When we used to visit the Prasadalay, there used to be crowd. Now the arrangements are perfect. I am thankful to the SSST." Another devotee said now that only devotees will get the slip and will be able to have Prasad.
