Funds for poor, not airport: Shirdi devotees

Shirdi’s Sai Baba temple trust’s decision to give Rs 100 crore to the state government to build an airport in the town has angered devotees who want the money to be used for the welfare of the poor.

Shirdi’s Sai Baba temple trust’s decision to give Rs 100 crore to the state government to build an airport in the town has angered devotees who want the money to be used for the welfare of the poor.

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On Friday, CM Ashok Chavan and Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel will lay the airport’s foundation stone.

The Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Trust, one of India’s richest, had a budget of Rs 200 crore last year. Its decision has divided Ahmednagar’s Vikhe-Patil family, in charge of the trust for decades. Trustee and state Transport Minister Radha-krishna Vikhe-Patil approves of the decision while his father, former MP Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, opposes it.