Enquiry to be held into the allegations of corruption in Shri Siddhivinayak Temple !

MLA Sada Sarvankar alleges that donations being embezzled !

Nagpur (Maharashtra) – MLA Sada Sarvankar (Balasahebanchi Shivsena) has made allegations of corruption of crores of rupees in the Shiv Bhojan Thali scheme, renovation of temples, tenders for the ‘QR Code’ system, and procurement of ghee for Prasad in ‘Shri Siddhivinayak Ganpati Mandir Trust’ at Prabhadevi (Mumbai). He made these allegations while presenting the attention notice in Vidhan Sabha. Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced to investigate of this case within a month and take action.

MLA Saravankar demanded that the Shri Siddhivinayak Ganpati Mandir Trust, which is involved in misappropriation and corruption, should be dissolved while bringing to the attention of the House that the donations made by the devotees are not being properly utilised. The Home Minister announced an enquiry on this issue. The State Government has received a complaint about this, and the investigation is going on. Some serious things have come up in the investigation. Action will be taken against those found guilty in the investigation, said the Home Minister.

The inquiry into alleged malpractices in Sree Siddhivinayak Temple Trust will be completed within one month, Maharashtra Deputy CM @Dev_Fadnavis said.https://t.co/bm4ADq8rUp

— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) December 31, 2022

Serious allegations made by MLA Sada Saravankar,

1. During the time of Covid-19, the Government had suggested starting Shiv Bhojan thali, but Shri Siddhivinayak Ganapati Mandir Trust ignored it and provided financial assistance of ₹5 crores to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. This fund was given when there was no provision in the rules. Other members of the trust were not taken into account while disbursing funds.

2. While spending more than 25 lakh rupees requires approval of the Government, tenders of ₹3.5 crores were floated for ‘QR Code’ in the name of allowing devotees to have darshan during the Covid period without calling for tenders. These tenders were awarded to known persons. While this system costs just ₹40 to 50 lakhs, corruption was done without calling for tenders.

3. The renovation work of the temple is going on. Tenders were floated for this. A deadline of 18 months was given to complete this work. It was decided to levy a fine of ₹10,000 per day in case of failure. Despite the work continuing for more than 7 months beyond the deadline, none of the ₹21 lakh penalty was collected from the contractor. This caused financial loss to the Trust.

4. 16,400 litres of ghee was taken from Uttar Pradesh during the Covid period. Local ghee sellers were not considered for this. This purchase was made when there was no need for so much ghee during the Covid period. It was lying unused. Later some of it was thrown away, while the rest of the ghee was sold by calling for tenders without any provision in the rules.