Tweet
PUTTAPARTHI: Trustees of the Sri Satya Sai Central Trust today said Sai Baba did not have any successor in his mind and that a new Chairman of the Trust may be elected next week, as they sought to put up a united front asserting there were no differences among them.
A day after Sai Baba was laid to rest in this pilgrim town in Andhra Pradesh, the Trustees also said the 86-year-old spiritual leader had left no will and that his "caretaker" Satyajit was just an "employee" of the Trust chosen by him for some personal work and nothing more than that.
"Election of Chairman may happen next week when the Trustees and Council of Management will meet. There is no will of the Baba as far as we know nor did he have his successor in mind," the trustees said at their maiden press conference at the Satya Sai Indoor Stadium here.
The Trustees while asserting they had no individual "vested interests" also sought to drive home the point that there was no difference of opinion among them.
"We have no individual vested interests. But, there are certain vested interests that are tring to defame the fair name of the Trust, its functionaries and the Trustees," the Trustees said.
"We don't want to name anybody but there are efforts to defame us," said Trustee Venu Srinivasan, a former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII), at the crowded press conference in the company of his other Trust colleagues.
"The traditions that Baba established in various practices have been crystallised. The glorious traditions...We will follow in letter and spirit and maintain the same values.
Both the Central and the AP governments have assured that they would not interfere with the Trust activities," Srinivasan said while speaking on behalf of the Trustees and the Council of Management.
"They told us that the governments were neither interested nor was there any proposal to interfere with the Trust activities.
In fact, we never approached the government for aid at any time," he pointed out.
Maintaining that the value of Trust properties was "hugely exaggerated" by the media, Srinivasan and another Trustee Naganand said the value was always subjective.
"Also, in the light of baseless, irresponsible and false accusations of defalcation of gold, valuable artefacts and even money, it is emphatically stated that the accusations are wholly untrue and it is believed these have been engineered by certain vested interests," Srinivasan said.
"The Trust properties are for a specific purpose. Every single piece of land owned by the Trust is for charitable purposes and the properties are not available for sale or commercial exploitation," he said.
The Trust, henceforth, would be transparent and maintain the same values established by the Baba, he added.
It was probably for the first time ever that Trustees of the Satya Sai Trust addressed a formal press conference.
"When Baba was alive, we never had an occasion to interact with the media," Srinivasan said.
Maintaining that the value of Trust properties was "hugely exaggerated" by the media, Srinivasan and another Trustee Naganand, a Supreme Court lawyer, said the value was always subjective.
"The Trust properties are for a specific purpose. Every single piece of land owned by the Trust is for charitable purpose and the properties are not available for sale or commercial exploitation," they added.
The SSSCT owned several acres of land in Puttaparthi , Bengaluru, Anantapur, Hyderabad , New Delhi , Kodaikanal, Rajahmundry and other places on which hospitals, educational institutions and other facilities came up.
"The income of the Central Trust and its associate Sri Satya Sai Medical Trust ranged from Rs 100 crore to Rs 130 crore per annum in the last four years. The expenditure for the same period was between Rs 75 crore and Rs 100 crore per annum. It is, therefore, evident that the size of the Trust is modest," Naganand said.
While stating that the trustees themselves had "no individual vested interests", Srinivasan alleged certain vested interests were trying to defame the fair name of the Trust, its functionaries and the Trustees."
He, however, said "we don't want to name anybody but there are efforts to defame us," Srinivas said.
"In the light of baseless, irresponsible and false accusations of defalcation of gold, valuable artefacts and even money, it is emphatically stated that the accusations are wholly untrue and it is believed these have been engineered by certain vested interests," Srinivasan added.
A day after Sai Baba was laid to rest in this pilgrim town in Andhra Pradesh, the Trustees also said the 86-year-old spiritual leader had left no will and that his "caretaker" Satyajit was just an "employee" of the Trust chosen by him for some personal work and nothing more than that.
"Election of Chairman may happen next week when the Trustees and Council of Management will meet. There is no will of the Baba as far as we know nor did he have his successor in mind," the trustees said at their maiden press conference at the Satya Sai Indoor Stadium here.
The Trustees while asserting they had no individual "vested interests" also sought to drive home the point that there was no difference of opinion among them.
"We have no individual vested interests. But, there are certain vested interests that are tring to defame the fair name of the Trust, its functionaries and the Trustees," the Trustees said.
"We don't want to name anybody but there are efforts to defame us," said Trustee Venu Srinivasan, a former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII), at the crowded press conference in the company of his other Trust colleagues.
"The traditions that Baba established in various practices have been crystallised. The glorious traditions...We will follow in letter and spirit and maintain the same values.
Both the Central and the AP governments have assured that they would not interfere with the Trust activities," Srinivasan said while speaking on behalf of the Trustees and the Council of Management.
"They told us that the governments were neither interested nor was there any proposal to interfere with the Trust activities.
In fact, we never approached the government for aid at any time," he pointed out.
Maintaining that the value of Trust properties was "hugely exaggerated" by the media, Srinivasan and another Trustee Naganand said the value was always subjective.
"Also, in the light of baseless, irresponsible and false accusations of defalcation of gold, valuable artefacts and even money, it is emphatically stated that the accusations are wholly untrue and it is believed these have been engineered by certain vested interests," Srinivasan said.
"The Trust properties are for a specific purpose. Every single piece of land owned by the Trust is for charitable purposes and the properties are not available for sale or commercial exploitation," he said.
The Trust, henceforth, would be transparent and maintain the same values established by the Baba, he added.
It was probably for the first time ever that Trustees of the Satya Sai Trust addressed a formal press conference.
"When Baba was alive, we never had an occasion to interact with the media," Srinivasan said.
Maintaining that the value of Trust properties was "hugely exaggerated" by the media, Srinivasan and another Trustee Naganand, a Supreme Court lawyer, said the value was always subjective.
"The Trust properties are for a specific purpose. Every single piece of land owned by the Trust is for charitable purpose and the properties are not available for sale or commercial exploitation," they added.
The SSSCT owned several acres of land in Puttaparthi , Bengaluru, Anantapur, Hyderabad , New Delhi , Kodaikanal, Rajahmundry and other places on which hospitals, educational institutions and other facilities came up.
"The income of the Central Trust and its associate Sri Satya Sai Medical Trust ranged from Rs 100 crore to Rs 130 crore per annum in the last four years. The expenditure for the same period was between Rs 75 crore and Rs 100 crore per annum. It is, therefore, evident that the size of the Trust is modest," Naganand said.
While stating that the trustees themselves had "no individual vested interests", Srinivasan alleged certain vested interests were trying to defame the fair name of the Trust, its functionaries and the Trustees."
He, however, said "we don't want to name anybody but there are efforts to defame us," Srinivas said.
"In the light of baseless, irresponsible and false accusations of defalcation of gold, valuable artefacts and even money, it is emphatically stated that the accusations are wholly untrue and it is believed these have been engineered by certain vested interests," Srinivasan added.
