The Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust has said there are no differences of opinion among its members and scotched rumours and concerns of mismanagement of the trust money. A new Chairman of the Trust will be soon appointed.

The five trustees, including R. J. Ratnakar, and the Council of Management of the Trust addressed the press here today for the first time after Sri Sathya Sai Baba was laid to rest on Wednesday.

Answering queries raised by media persons, V. Srinivasan, one of the trustees and the All-India President of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, said: “All decisions are taken after obtaining a consensus from everybody.” He also said that a new Chairman of the trust would be named in the next 7-10 days.

Regarding the trust's authorised signatory for bank accounts, he said that so far only Sathya Sai Baba had the power to sign them.

The future course of action regarding this would be decided in the trust's next meeting.

On speculative reports about the Andhra Pradesh Government taking over the trust's activities, it was said that “the Government has no proposal to interfere in the functioning of the trust or its activities.” Asked about the role of Baba's close aide Satyajit Salian in the overall scheme of things, the trustees said that he will have no role to play in the trust for the time being and that he was only an employee of the trust.

Srinivasan also said that media reports were grossly over-valuing the trust's assets.

He said that while it owned the land and buildings required for the education and medical relief activities, the trust's assets weren't meant for any commercial activities.

All the services rendered by the trust, be it education or medical treatment, are free. He further clarified that the trust has never made an appeal for donations.

Srinivasan said that the income of the Central Trust and the Medical Trust (taken over by the Central Trust in Dec-2010) ranged from Rs 100-130 crore a year during the last four years, while the expenses for the same period ranged between Rs 75-100 crore a year.

He said that all the transactions of the public trust, established by Sri Sathya Sai Baba in 1972, are duly accounted for and the books of accounts are audited by a reputed firm of chartered accountants based in Delhi.

On allegations of negligence and ignoring Sai Baba's health, the trustees said that till the Baba was admitted in the hospital, he continued to take active interest in the running of the trust's various activities.

There was, therefore, no “reason for us to believe that he wasn't in possession of all his faculties”.

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