Published Tuesday, April 19, 2011 @ 1900 hrs.
Following is an insight into the formation and charitable activities being done by Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Prasanthi Nilayam, as released by the Board of Trustees on 18th April 2011 for favour of public awareness.
Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust
Prasanthi Nilayam
[April 18, 2011]
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's public charitable activities have been carried out through Public Charitable Trusts founded by Him like Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Sri Sathya Sai Medical Trust, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, etc. The trusts have their charter and rules clearly laid down in the Trust Deeds. The Trusts are recognized and registered under the Income Tax Act, Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act and other laws as applicable in each state.
Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust was registered as such in 1972 and has been undertaking various developmental activities inspired by Bhagavan Baba. The activities of the Central Trust extend over a wide range like Education, Health and Medicine, and welfare activities like Drinking Water Supply, Disaster Relief, Rehabilitation Housing and the like. The drinking water supply scheme providing clean drinking water to approximately 800 villages in Anantapur District, similar schemes in Medak and Mahbubnagar Districts and tribal areas of East and West Godavari Districts, providing drinking water to Chennai city; providing high quality medical care through two super specialty hospitals in Puttaparthi and Bengaluru; providing high quality character- building education from the primary classes up to the post graduate level, are instances in point. A significant and unique feature of all these activities is that all these services are rendered totally free, in a spirit of love.
The Trustees of the Central Trust as reconstituted in March, 2010 are:
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Founder Trustee
Justice P.N. Bhagawati, former Chief Justice of India
Sri Indulal Shah, Chartered Accountant, Mumbai
Sri S.V.Giri, former Central Vigilance Commissioner, Government of India
Sri V. Srinivasan, Former National President, Confederation of Indian Industries [CII]
Sri R.J. Rathnakar, Prasanthi Nilayam.
In addition to the above, the Council of Management of the Trust has:
Sri S.S.Naganand, eminent lawyer from Bangalore,
Sri J.V.Shetty, former Chairman of Canara Bank Ltd.,
Sri T.K.K. Bhagavat, former Chairman of Indian Overseas Bank, and
Sri K. Chakravarthi I.A.S.[Retd]
The Trustees and Members of the Council of Management have been chosen and appointed personally by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The Trustees and members of the Council of Management do not receive any remuneration, monetary or other benefit from the Trust. The Trustees have diligently ensured that the funds of the Trust are strictly utilized for the designated objects of the Trust under the guidance of Bhagavan Baba from time to time.
The Trust does not receive donations except through banks. Payments are made through cheques only. The valuation of the assets of the Trust according to the established accounting norms, and the audited statements of income and expenditure are all incorporated in the various returns to be filed before the respective statutory authorities of the Central and State governments at specified intervals. These returns have all been filed regularly and are up-to-date. Foolproof accounting systems are in place. The question of any diversion of funds or unauthorized expenditure does not arise.
The institutions like the schools, university, hospitals and other organisations are run by the respective Trusts. There is or will be no vacuum and we firmly believe that Baba will continue to guide the Trustees. The interests of the institutions are paramount.
The recent spurt of grossly distorted reports in a section of the press and electronic media appear to be motivated and meant to damage the fair name of the sacred institutions run by the Trust. It is particularly unfortunate that this attempt is being made at a time when Bhagavan’s health has suffered a setback.
Baba has declared long ago that He belongs to the whole world and His only possessions are His devotees. We appeal to all the devotees and the general public not to be misled by the mischievous campaign that is being carried on and stepped up with every passing day. It is of utmost importance that the devotees maintain their calm and pray for the health of Bhagavan who will show His compassion even to such misguided individuals and lead them to the right path, since such transformation is part of His proclaimed mission.
SRI SATHYA SAI CENTRAL TRUST, PRASANTHI NILAYAM
Accounting procedure for Receipts & Payments of the Trust
Donors deposit the cash directly in the bank branch opened in the premises of the Trust. No employee of the Trust can receive any cash donations from the donors. Donors who like to donate outside the banking hours are advised to donate through debit card machines of the bank. As such there are no cash collections with the Trust which are not accounted for. Cheques/drafts received by the Trust are deposited daily in the bank by the Finance Officer of the Trust. Any foreign contributions received are credited in a separate bank account as per approval given by the Home Ministry under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976. The receipts duly signed by the Secretary of the Trust are sent to the donors at the addresses given by them.
All works and projects of the Trust are approved by the Founder Trustee, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba who only has the power to sign cheques for disbursing payments for the approved works/projects. All payments to various suppliers/contractors are made by A/c payee demand drafts or by transfer through RTGS directly for credit to the bank accounts of various suppliers/contractors. No payments are made to any party by cash.
The annual audited Foreign Contribution Statements giving receipt and utilization are sent to Home Ministry every year. The annual audited Financial Statements are also filed every year with various Government agencies such as Income Tax Department etc.
|
