Shocking revelation : Shri Vitthal Rukmini Temple Committee backed corrupt individuals

• Shri Vitthal Rukmini Temple Committee under Scrutiny for mismanagement

• The correspondent from ‘Sanatan Prabhat’ conducted an exclusive interview with Balaji Pudalwad, the Manager of the Shri Vitthal Rukmini Temple Committee

(Credit – Solapuronline.in)

Pandharpur – In the case of mismanagement by the Shri Vitthal Rukmini Temple Committee, shocking information has emerged that the committee backed corrupt individuals. This revelation surfaced during an interview conducted by the correspondent of the daily ‘Sanatan Prabhat’ with Balaji Pudalwad, the Manager of the temple committee, on December 30th. Throughout the interview, Pudalwad struggled to provide concrete and satisfactory answers to questions regarding corruption in the Prasad laddus, the squandering of Rs 22 lakh in temple funds due to unplanned management, and the embezzlement of Rs 6.5 lakh by an employee, among other issues.

The temple committee terminated the contract with the corrupt contractor responsible for producing the Prasad laddus but failed to file a legal case

Pudalwad was asked, “The quality of the laddus distributed as Prasad of Shri Vitthal was not maintained. Dry fruits were not used in it as per the contract, and cottonseed oil was used instead of groundnut oil, you acknowledge all these discrepancies, then why no legal case was filed against the contractor?”. He responded, stating, “We issued a notice to the contractor, but he did not comply. Consequently, we terminated his contract, and his deposit of Rs 20 to 22 lakhs is yet to be refunded. The temple committee will take the decision to lodge a Police complaint against him”. Additionally, Pudalwad conceded that in the past, devotees visiting for the darshan of Shri Vitthal were provided with subpar Prasad. He assured that the current distribution involves high-quality laddus for the devotees.

Acceptance of delay in toilet construction work; But silence on wastage of lakhs of rupees of temple committee

In 2017, the Shri Vitthal Rukmini Temple Committee entered into a 35-year agreement for the construction of accessible toilets on the Railway Department’s site, allocating Rs 1,54,46,041 for the project. An expenditure of Rs 4,41,315 per month was incurred for this purpose. Surprisingly, despite these provisions, no accessible public toilet has materialised over the last 5 years. This lack of foresight in management has resulted in the squandering of more than Rs 22 lakhs from the temple funds. When questioned about this issue, Pudalwad responded, “Due to a dispute between the Railway Administration and two doctors, the construction of the public toilet intended for the Warakari community was delayed. Currently, the work is in its final stages.”

Refusal to talk more about embezzlement of Rs 6.5 lakhs by the employee

Balaji Pudalwad was questioned, “A temple employee named Ausekar embezzled Rs 6.5 lakhs from the Prasad laddu funds. What action was taken by the temple committee, and why was no case filed against him ?” He responded, saying, “This topic has not been addressed in the audit report. It is a separate matter, and the Executive office will provide a response in this regard.” He refrained from offering additional comments on the issue.

Rajendra Shelke, Executive Officer of the temple committee, did not answer the phone call

The correspondent of the daily ‘Sanatan Prabhat’ attempted to reach Rajendra Shelke, the Executive Officer of the temple committee, twice over the phone to inquire about the Shri Vitthal Rukmini Temple Committee’s position on the auditors’ observations. However, he did not respond to the calls. When Ha.Bha.Pa Gahininath Maharaj Ausekar, the Co-Chairman of the committee, was contacted, he advised reaching out to Rajendra Shelke, the Executive Officer. Despite two attempts to contact Rajendra Shelke, there has been no response to the calls.

Editorial Perspectives

Observing corruption in many temples under government control, it can be concluded that the Government takeover of temples is synonymous with creating a breeding ground for corruption. This is a shameful for Hindus.

Since temples are source of sattvikata (spiritual purity) and their take over by Government has compromised their sanctity, Hindus should unite and pressurise the Government to free temples from its control.

Please note that the so-called ‘secular’ all-party Governments, which dare not intervene in mosques and churches, take control of Hindu temples.