Abide by the Trust constitution

VADODARA, June 11: The order of the joint charity commissioner, Vadodara division, instructing all trustees of the prestigious K G Patel Chi...

VADODARA, June 11: The order of the joint charity commissioner, Vadodara division, instructing all trustees of the prestigious K G Patel Children8217;s Hospital to abide by the trust constitution and the Mumbai Trust Act, 1950, gives yet another twist to the five-year-old dispute over various financial and other matters of the institution.

A complaint alleging various 8220;unconstitutional8221; affairs in the Trust was filed by D V Nene, a founder trustee, some time ago.

Though all the trustees are prominent citizens of Vadodara, the commissionerate8217;s fiat makes it appear that all in not well in the Trust.

The KGP trustees are doctors Bhaskar Vyas and Nene, both doctors and founder-trustees; Nila Shah, secretary and wife of Gujarat Ecology Commission chief Hasmukh Shah; income-tax consultant Surendra Joshi, vice-president; builder Dinsha Desai; industrialist Manubhai Patel; well-known doctors Mayur Hathi and Jagdish Patel; educationist Tushar Pandya; IAS officer Rashmi Shroff; Aruna Mehta, wife of Congress leader Sanat Mehta and businessmen Goverdhan Patel, 60, and Goverdhan Patel, 90.

Nene moved the commissionerate court alleging that the Trust constitution was not being adhered to despite his and Vyas8217;s repeated requests.The plea sought the commissioner8217;s intervention, pleading that there had been no elections of the trustees for the past five years; that for posts of two trustees 8212; to be elected from among staff members 8212; also had not been held. The plea also urged for 8220;transparency8221; in the affairs of Trust.

Founded in 1972 and set up in 1984 by Dalai Lama, and later expanded at the behest of the then vice-president R Venkataraman, there were no reports about malfunctioning in the Trust-ran the children8217;s hospital till 1995, when Vyas reportedly unearthed some financial irregularities and resigned from his post in 1996, after he is said to have attracted the wrath of some of the trustees for his act.

Then in 1997, the commissionerate instituted an inquiry into the reported irregularities, which were proved on September 8, 1997.

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While Vyas and Nene said they were were fighting for justice, the Trust secretary told Express Newsline that she was 8220;sorry8221; to learn the commissionerate order.

8220;It is an internal tiff and all the trustees should sit together to remove the rough edges. I want all the disputes to be solved and for ever8221;, she said.