On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 10:30 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian <sur...@hserus.net> wrote: > > if he wanted to compare donation figures he could compare those to the > figures going into shirdi, puttaparthi, siddhivinayak temple,
There was a media report on this some years ago but I dont remember the details. Apparently, Indian laws mandate all hindu temples (of certain size/earnings?) automatically fall under the purview of the Indian government. That means temples which want a tax-exempt status have to maintain a board which *has* to have government representative/s who make decisions on the temples behalf. All the funds collected (like hundi donations) and earned via sales get tax-exemption status, are public property (read, under government rules) and subject to govt directives. While the temple is a rich entity under the government control with 80G tax-exempt status, the temple priest gets a daily salary of Rupees 100 (this data is a few years old and needs to be verified). Under the RTI act, it *may* be possible to get information on how a (for example, mumbai's siddhivinayak) temple's funds educational institutions in Maharashtra's districts/villages. It would also be enlightening to check the antecedents and political affiliations of the management receiving the funds. You (read public) cannot ask a CSI, wakf board or a NGO/sec25 company, trust or society board for their annual financial data since all other religions are considered minorities, not covered by this legislation under Indian laws. Private entities are exempt from public purview/censure. The legal eagles on this list would know legalese better. Another example: A temple land can easily be encroached upon, not so with land belonging to other religious trust/boards who can go to court (a temple trust can too but its easier to stall that and the reader can use their imagination on "how"). The author could have researched a little bit more before penning his article. > aurobindo ashram etc (several of which have 100% tax exemption for social work > projects they carry out, and which also have large, even grandiose building > programs like that huge golden golfball at auroville, for example) ... isnt that the 5-star path to moksha (nirvana if you must). .
