Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar's alma mater Shardashram school board accused of embezzlement

Shardashram Vidyamandir, the school famous as the alma mater of noted cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli and Ajit Agarkar, is in the news again, but for the wrong reasons this time. One of the trustees of the school in Dadar, has accused the board of trustees of misappropriation of funds, which he suspects are to the tune of Rs 35 crore.

Accusing the other trust members of embezzling crores of rupees from the trust in the name of repair and new construction illegally without the general body's approval, the trustee, Chandrakant Sangar, has written to the Charity Commissioner this week.

Sangar, who is the Shardashram Vidyamandir trust's secretary, claimed that the board of trustees awarded a contract for the repair and construction of the new building to a contractor in April without inviting bids. "Everything was done without discussing or obtaining the approval of the governing council and general body, thus violating the rules," Sangar said.

Sangar claimed that before awarding the contract, only cost estimates for the work were obtained from selected contractors. When this became known, Sangar contacted Rajan Gupte, the president of the Shardasharam Vidyamandir Trust. However, Sangar claimed that despite repeated complaints, no action was taken, prompting him to contact the Charity Commissioner.

In his complaint to the Charity Commissioner, Sangar claimed that despite the lack of a tendering process, a three-member committee was formed to award the contract. He said in his letter: "There was a discrepancy even in the repair work of the students' toilet." He alleged that in the bidding process for the repair work of the students' toilet, the same company bid multiple times using different names. He also alleged that he and the joint secretary were kept in the dark. "Despite holding the post of secretary in the trust, they awarded contracts and made important decisions without my signature on them," he added.

According to Sangar, this is not the first instance of bungling in the trust's work and misappropriation of funds. Sangar stated in his letter to the Charity Commissioner that the trust had previously suffered financial losses. Giving one such example in his letter, he said, "Between 2014 and March 31, 2022, the trust got repairs worth Rs 1.25 crore done, however over Rs 3 crore was siphoned off for the work." Sangar has complained that he suspects embezzlement and misappropriation of funds totalling at least Rs 35 crore.

Pradeep Sawant, a Shardashram Vidyamandir alumnus and member of the Mumbai University's academic council, has also written to the charity commissioner on Wednesday. "These are serious allegations that should not be taken lightly. The money at stake is hard-earned by the parents of the student. We have contacted the charity commissioner and requested an investigation into the situation. If the allegations are found to be true, severe punishment should be meted out to those responsible," said Sawant.

‘Work of vested interests'

According to Gajendra Shetty, chairman of Shardashram English Medium School, the accusation is the work of those with grudges and vested interests. "Such incidents will only tarnish the organisation's reputation. Chandrakant Sangar has a problem because he was not named to the board of directors. I accept that I may have made some procedural errors, but not that I misappropriated funds," Shetty said.

Shetty further said, "The renovation and repair work had been stalled for three years due to the pandemic. We only had 45 days to finish repairing the students' toilets and renovating the classrooms. We did not publish an advertisement in the newspaper because it was a time-consuming process. Instead, we did research on previous school projects and hired a project management consultant. Unlike what Sangar claims, we floated a tender. A work order was issued. Another mistake was failing to share and circulate the amount in the work order with the governing council. The error was corrected, and the governing council approved it. We have no ulterior motives and the work done is transparent."