Will take to the streets if the corrupt Government committee of Shri Vitthal-Rukmini temple is not dissolved !

• Warn Warkaris and devout Hindu organisations in the press conference

• Temple lost millions due to incompetence of Government Temple Committee

From left – Mr Rajan Bunage, Ha. Bha. Pa. Nagesh Bagade Maharaj, Mr Sunil Ghanavat (speaking), Ha. Bha. Pa. Ramakrushna Vir Maharaj and Mr Nagesh Lanke

Pandharpur – ‘There has been corruption in valuable jewellery, gold ornaments, Prasad-laddus, construction of washrooms etc at Shri Vitthal-Rukmini Temple of Pandharpur which is the place of worship of millions of devotees of Deity Vitthal. Moreover, many big temples in the country have made profits, but due to the financial mismanagement of Shri Vitthal-Rukmini Temple Committee, the temple incurred a loss of Rs 6.05 crores during the financial year 2020-21. Owing to a lack of proper financial management, the temple had to pay Rs. 3, 77, 21, 565 by way of taxes. There also has been expenditure of lakhs of rupees by giving contracts to BVG Company without tender. There have been many such unpardonable wrongdoings of Shri

Vitthal-Rukmini Temple Committee; therefore, this committee should be immediately dissolved and cases should be filed against the those involved in corruption’, demanded Warkaris and ‘Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh’. ‘If the demand is not fulfilled, we shall take to the streets’, they warned the State Government.

Mr Sunil Ghanwat, State Coordinator of ‘Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh’ and the Maharashtra State coordinator of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS); Ha. Bha. Pa. Ramakrushna Vir Maharaj, Spokesperson of ‘Warkari Sampradaya Paik Sangh’; Mr Ganesh Lanke, President of ‘Shri Vitthal-Rukmini Mandir Sanrakshan Kruti Samiti; Ha. Bha. Pa. Nagesh Bagade Maharaj; Ha. Bha. Pa. Nivrutti Namadas Maharaj; Mr Rajan Bunage of HJS etc were present at the press conference.

Various points presented by Mr Sunil Ghanwat in the press conference

If the ornaments were not misplaced, why were they not given to the auditors for verification ?

1. The explanation given by the temple committee for not mentioning more than 314 ancient valuable ornaments’ valuation in the balance sheet, in a way, suggests acceptance of the temple committee of its own fraud.

2. Why the temple committee did not give the ornaments to the auditors for checking when it claimed that the ornaments were not lost ? What is the exact problem ? The temple committee is explaining trivial matters but does not explain many serious allegations such as providing substandard ‘prasad’ to devotees, mismanagement of ‘gou-shala’ etc.

3. Even after 38 years since the Government took over the management, there has been no record of ancient valuable ornaments which means that like Shri Tuljapur Temple, there could have been replacement of ancient ornaments. Fake documents could have been made; therefore, we have lodged a complaint with Pandharpur Police Station and Solapur District Collector against these inexcusable matters.

4. In 2013, we held a press conference and exposed many issues related to malpractices in the management of Shri Vitthal temple. Now, even after ten years, most of the scams are recurring, which is a serious matter.

5. BSG and Associates from Pune, a chartered accountant firm, completed the audit of the temple and submitted their report on 23 ^rd March 2023, exposing 27 types of very serious malpractices of this temple committee.

Temple running in loss

In the balance sheet for 2021-22, the temple committee has shown Rs 6, 24,71, 000 as income while Rs 12, 30, 53,000 were shown as expenditure; thus, a loss of Rs 6, 05, 82,000. How can Shri Vitthal-Rukmini Temple in Maharashtra, be in loss when millions of devotees visit this temple and make huge offerings ? There are several big temples earning profits in this country, then who is responsible for the losses incurred by Shri Vitthal temple ?

Land scam

Land measuring more than 1250 acres belongs to the temple committee. The temple committee has shown Rs 5, 26,000 only as land tax in a year. The auditors have said that the tax has been shown in a wrong way. How can the tax be so low for such a huge land parcel ? There seems to be something fishy.

Rs 3.77 crore wasted

The input tax credit is paid on the raw material but can be recovered from the GST after the sale of the product. This facility was, however, not used and the GST portal shows Rs 3, 77, 21, 565 worth of credit available during 2017-18 to 2022-23. The temple committee has paid the amount as GST to the Government without consulting the experts. Overall, there is mismanagement and indicates how much loss must have been incurred even in other matters.

Recovery of Rs 69 lakhs pending

The temple committee paid income tax and sought a refund on TDS (tax deducted at source) but banks have not refunded TDS of Rs 69, 14, 913 from 2004-05 to 2018-19. Why is the temple committee remaining silent on this matter ? If banks’ money was pending from the temple, would they have waited for so many years ? This amount could have been kept in fixed deposits, drawing huge interest.

Wasted millions of rupees by giving contract to BVG without tender

The temple committee gave contracts to BVG company for providing manpower for cleaning 3 ‘Bhakta-Niwas’. BVG spends Rs 18,57,700 every year for the cleaning machine. The auditors had to, therefore, advise the temple committee to buy the machine. Who is favouring this BVG company and wasting so much money on it ?

Unorganised management

There is no security guard where the cash is stored. There is no record of entry and exit in the cash room. The auditor has advised to check people entering and exiting the cash room. But temple committee has ensured that nobody knows how much cash was received or who has taken out.

A wrong reconciliation sheet is being submitted to the banks, showing same expenditure and donation twice. This duplication amounts to Rs 14, 20, 495. The brass idol of Shri Vitthal- Rukmini was kept in the account officer’s office without adding it to the stock. There are no records maintained even at Anna-chhatra, electric room, management room, Gou-shala and other departments; therefore, if someone is taking things home, it will not be found out. The stock of books is very small, worth Rs 29,615. The Government needs to conduct an inquiry into these things and take stringent action against the guilty, dissolve the present corrupt temple committee and hand over its management to honest devotees. Shri Vitthal-Rukmini Temple should be released from the clutches of the Government. These were the demands made on the occasion.

Editorial Perspective

Devotees should not have to demand this; the Government is expected to take action on its own against corruption !