With the rites of the spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba been performed on Wednesday, the attention of many of his admirers and also independent observers has now turned to the material aspects.
Even before the mortal remains of Baba were buried, questions were being raised over the future of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (SSSCT) that controls assets reported to be worth over Rs 40,000 crore.
In the absence of any recorded estimates, it is anybody's guess regarding how wealthy Baba's Central trust is, especially as the money is stated to be received from his devotees who are estimated to be over 30 million and spread over 170 countries.
If the trust had made any estimations in this regard, it is not in the public domain. The accounting system of the trust is shrouded in ambiguity.
According to the website of SSSCT, Sri Satyasai Seva Organisations are spread over 170 countries and its educare programme has funded schools in 33 countries including Australia, Mexico, UK and Peru.
Besides the Prashanthi Nilayam, the abode of Baba, in Puttaparthi alone, the trust's assets include an institute of higher learning, a cricket stadium, an indoor stadium, a planetarium, a musical institute and an airport.
This apart, to name a few, the trust has a sprawling 130-acre estate comprising Baba's ashram and a super speciality hospital at Whitefield in Bangalore, a grand function hall and Shivam Mandir in Hyderabad, Sundaram Mandir in Chennai, Ananda Nilayam in Madurai and Satyam Mandir in Mumbai.
Moreover, it is not clear whether Baba, who breathed his last on Sunday, died testate or intestate. If Baba had left behind a will, which some say is the case, it has not been disclosed. So, who will be his successor is not yet known.
However, more than who is going to be Baba's successor, the big question is whether the trust will receive the same patronage in terms of flow of funds from devotees to be able to run the existing philanthropic activities, including running hospitals and educational institutions.
According to one estimate, the trust annually receives somewhere around Rs 300 crore in the form of donations. It is stated to be among the top ten recipients of foreign contributions in the country. The trust is registered as charity and thus exempted from payment of taxes.
According to information available with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the highest amount that it received from overseas devotees is over Rs 80 crore in the year 2010, while the total foreign funds flew into the trust accounts till date stood at around Rs 2,000 crore,
“The trust members told the Chief Minister and Governor when they visited Prashanthi Nilayam soon after Baba's death that the trust will be able to continue with all the activities launched by Sathya Sai Baba in future. They stated that the founder trustee and chairman of the Sathya Sai Central Trust had more or less worked out plans to sustain these programmes during his lifetime,” LV Subrahmanyam, AP's Principal Secretary Finance, told Business Standard.
Subrahmanyam was sent to Puttaparthi by the state government to interact with the trust in the aftermath of Baba’s hospitalisation early this month. As the state government made it clear that only the trust will be at the helm of all the activities, the onus completely rests on the members of the current dispensation, handpicked by Baba himself, in continuing with all that good work that brought goodwill to the Sathya Sai movement across the country and beyond.
Trust Members
Members of the trust include former Chief Justice of India PN Bhagawati, Mumbai-based chartered accountant Indulal Shah, former Chief Vigilance Commissioner SV Giri, Tamil Nadu-based industrialist V Srinivasan, an advocate from Karnataka Nagananda and Baba's nephew RJ Ratnakar. A former IAS officer, K Chakravarthi is the trust secretary.
Despite assurances from the trust members that Baba's activities would be continued, there are widespread apprehensions on this aspect. It is one thing that the trust has lots of assets under its belt. But whether it can take the liberty of disposing some of them to fund the activities like executing drinking water projects as Baba himself did, would be a big question mark in the event of any financial constraints.
“One can value the assets that run into thousands of crores of rupees if taken into consideration the real estate prices in places like the Whitefield area of Bangalore. However, the trust runs a hospital on the Whitefield campus and it cannot be utilised for any other purpose except running the hospital in the premises,” a devotee pointed out.
There is also a huge worry that donations from devotees may come down post Baba's death as they were doing so owing to his physical presence. Moreover, devotees undertake service activities, independent of the trust, by contributing from their incomes locally as well.
However, a section of Baba’s followers consider the possibility of other scenario. “Post his death, Baba attains the stature of god in the eyes of people thereby broad basing of devotees who visit Puttaparthi, and any shortfall in big ticket donations may be compensated by small offerings from thousands of those worshipping masses,” they contended.
Under Baba, the trust had apparently stretched beyond its means in implementing programmes such as drinking water projects that cater to the needs of people in the drought-prone Rayalaseema region. In the process, he sold a few assets, including liquid assets like gold, besides going for bank loans, according to people with knowledge of trust activities.
Way ahead
In fact, Sai Baba trust is way ahead of many charity outfits when it comes to activities in the sphere of health and education as well as execution of drinking water projects and other service-oriented programmes.
It is ahead in such welfare programmes compared with the activities of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board that oversees the affairs of Lord Balaji, the richest Hindu god whose annual income is over Rs 1,000 crore.
SSSCT runs several general hospitals, two speciality hospitals, eye hospitals, mobile dispensaries and conducts medical camps in rural areas. It has funded major drinking water projects including the one that supplies water to 1.2 million people in about 750 villages of Anantapur district and ‘Sathya Sai Ganga Canal’ that supplies water to Chennai from AP.
The trust opened a 220-bed super speciality hospital at Puttaparthi in 1991 set up at a cost of Rs 300 crore and a 333-bed second super speciality in 2001 established at a cost of Rs 200 crore on a 70-acre site near Baba’s ashram at Whitefield. The trust apparently continued to expand the activities till recently as it had recently acquired 100 acre land at Guntur in Andhra Pradesh to set up an old-age home.
While there was no spiritual successor to Baba as he told his believers that ‘Prema Sai’, his reincarnation, will be born 8 years after he leaves his body in Mandya in Karnataka, the debate is now centered around who will head the trust.
Rumours of infighting notwithstanding, the trust largely comprises people of eminence and high integrity except in cases like Ratnakar, his brother’s son, who was not given any big role in the trust by Baba himself.
Of the rest Chakravarthi, former IAS officer and secretary of management council and Indulal Shah are said to be wielding authority in important matters of trust activities. Between these two people, Chakravarthi is considered to be the choice of the powers that be, according to media reports.
Meanwhile, the police has given protection to Baba’s trusted aide Satyajit following intelligence inputs that he may be facing a threat to his life. A native of Tamil Nadu, Satyajit had been Baba's caretaker for many years. He, however, is facing allegations that he did not take care of Baba well.
