Shri Saibaba Sansthan,Shirdi                                                                         Shri Saileela Main Page

                                  D. M. Sukthankar

                                  Chairman, Board of Management, Shri Sai Baba Sansthan, Shirdi

                                  Editor, ‘Shri Sai Leela’

From Editor’s desk

I was appointed by the Charity Commissioner, Maharashtra as the Chairman of the Board of Management of Shri Saibaba Sansthan, Shirdi in 1994. This appointment at that time was never expected by me. I had never sought nor tried for this exalted office, nor used any influence to secure it, as is, I am told, the usual practice. The authorities concerned having bestowed this responsibility on me, I deemed it to be my bounden duty to accept and discharge it to the best of my ability and with utmost integrity. 

My father was a great devotee of Lord Dattatreya and my mother is a devout Sai-bhakta.  I have inherited my faith and commitment from them.  I have always regarded the Chairmanship of the Board of Management of the Sansthan to be essentially an instrument for rendering my humble service for the betterment and rapid progress of the Sansthan. 

Providing maximum services and amenities to Baba’s devotees and improvement of local basic infrastructure in Shirdi town have been the main focal points of my work. Based on my long experience as a public administrator, I also throughout strived to bring about simplicity, utmost transparency and speed in the administration of the Sansthan. The recent efforts to introduce computerisation and apply information technology and other modern methods of working in the conduct of multifarious affairs of the Sansthan are intended to achieve the same objective. It has also always been my endeavour to accept the accountability and full responsibility of all the decisions taken by me and by the Board of Management, by keeping their full background and rationale on record for any person to consider it impartially and dispassionately at any time. 

My reappointment as the Chairman for the second term in 1999 by the Charity Commissioner was, for me, equally unexpected. May be, it was in recognition of the constructive work put in by me during my first term. I do, however, sincerely believe that the unique opportunity of serving for a full decade (1994-2004) as the Chairman of the Sansthan’s Board of Management,  which I was fortunate enough to get, is but a manifestation of Baba’s munificent blessings, for which I shall remain eternally grateful to Him.

During this period of ten years, a massive, complex and equally memorable project of full-scale Redevelopment of Samadhi Mandir Complex was completed in record time. Had Baba not willed it, this could never have been accomplished. A sense of regret and disappointment does graw me off and on that I could not achieve as much during my second term (1999-2004) as I could in my first term (1994-1999). This occasion of penning my valedictory note is, however, not the right one to expatiate the reasons which contributed to this deficiency. I would say that, neverthless, I am, on the whole, satisfied with what I have been able to achieve during my entire tenure as Chairman.

I have always enjoyed having a dialogue occasionally with the readers of ‘Saileela’, in my capacity as its Editor during the last ten years.  I shall certainly cherish these happy memories.

JAYA SAI.

(D. M. SUKTHANKAR)