JOIN USTrouble brews for Sai Baba's nephew
As tens of thousands of devotees of Sathya Sai Baba arrive here to take part in the death anniversary programme of the godman, several allegations against his nephew and trustee of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (SSSCT), R J Ratnakar, rent the air.
Deccan Herald on Monday had reported that a series of allegations have been made by another family member Ganapathi Raju based on which he has requested the government to remove Ratnakar from the trust.
On Monday, a few reporters from the local media quoting their offices in Hyderabad were speaking of a probable action from the government. However, there are no reports suggesting the same. And some of them were even linking the allegations to the reports which had hinted a probable take over of the trust by the government last year.
Sources in the SSSCT said the trust is functioning in the way Sai Baba had envisaged it. “There is no way one trustee can influence all the others to things that may cause damage to the credibility of the trust or create a sense of doubt in the minds of the devotees. Baba has put in place a practically foolproof system to bypass which is not possible,” T K K Bhagvat, a member of the SSSCT council management said.
Trust spokesperson Anantharaman, rubbishing the allegations made against Ratnakar, said: “Even if these are proven right, the law will take its course. But what is important is that the trustees are individuals with responsibilities of running the trust. How they conduct themselves as individuals is not the concern of the trust. We are professionals, our job is to run the trust efficiently and transparently so that the people are benefited. And to that effect there have been no problems and there will not be any.”
Further, talking about the trust’s financial position after the death of Sai Baba, Bhagvat said the trust is completely self-sufficient at this point and that the number of donations gives it a cushion to plan and execute more projects.
Among other things the trust will announce a water project on Tuesday and for the coming year, streamlining of its educational institutions and those run by other trusts under the aegis of SSSCT will be the priority. The trust has earmarked Rs 25 lakh per educational institute and officially there are about 99 such institutions.