Sai Trust and Seva Dal money-extortion

A comment came from a person who asks for his identity to be protected. The text was as follows:-

Submitted on 2014/01/04 at 8:11 pm
Dear Sir,
Just read your latest article about the money grabbing nature of the central-trust. I know of one case personally wherein after the death of the person…the trust took away the room and all that was there in it. Even the member of my family who was in a very high position within the organisation was asked a sum of 15,000-25,000 rupees in 1998 or so (it was an amount then!!!), indirectly it was a way of telling them that if they wanted to retain their positions…they must pay. Thanks for the expose.”

And the sender followed up with another e-mail comment:-

Dear Sir,

I forgot to mention one more point. I think someone senior from the hostel did ask the warden as to what they were doing with the amount thus collected. The warden then called the meeting of the hostel students and told them that a new carshed and a shed for visitors was constructed with the money as a gift for SB’s birthday celebrations…so as to ease the place meant  for parents/visitors  who came to see their wards on sundays. It’s a really funny thing to note that such a big trust could not have built it and had to depend on the little that students provided for the construction. I think they collected money for also renovating a lawn/garden which SB visited in the hostel campus. 

See related issues:
Sathya Sai authorities lied about freedom from expense for education at the colleges
Prashanthi Nilayam owners of ashram apartments beware! Extortion of former residents who paid huge sums for small apartments, being forced to return to Prahsnathi or lose all their hard-earned rights