Maharashtra's Richest Temple Spends 50 Pct Earnings on Charity

The trusts are keen on spending more on charity but say various restrictions on charity spending by the state government are hindering them. Further, as most of the funds stay with the trusts, politicians have pushed for their control. The trustees, who are political appointees, have a say in how the funds are spent and allegedly the Congress and the NCP have been contending for control of the Shirdi trust.

NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad said "Ideally, the Sansthan should give 85 percent of its collection to the chief minister's relief fund. The remaining 15 percent of the funds should be retained with the trust for day-to-day upkeep and administrative work. A small portion from this amount should be used to build shelters for devotees who trek hundreds of miles to reach Shirdi," as reported by TNN.

He added that "Lakhs of devotees throng the shrine and road accidents are common here. The Sansthan should give preference for six-laning of the Ghoti-Shirdi highway to facilitate commoners instead of spending crores on building airport for the rich."

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