Government-funded NGO involved in misappropriation of funds, claim trustees

Ahmedabad, Jul 15 (PTI) Two trustees of a government-funded NGO on Monday alleged that some former and present office-bearers of the organisation embezzled funds worth more than Rs 13 crore and fired a dozen employees without notice.

The allegations were levelled by Vivek Desai and Achyut Chinubhai Baronet, two of the 12 trustees of Nashabandhi Mandal, which runs de-addiction centres at Ahmedabad, Kheda, Rajkot, Banaskantha and Surat districts.

The NGO's secretary, Jitendra Amin, however, denied the allegations, claiming that the governing body has already registered an FIR against a person for not returning Rs 13 crore he took for selling a piece of land.

Talking to the media, Desai said, "The NGO receives grants worth Rs 2.11 crore annually from the state and Central governments. I was recently removed illegally as the president after I raised issues of ill-treatment to employees and misappropriation of funds." He claimed that he came across a land deal wherein former office bearers, including a former minister, had paid Rs 13 crore to one Prakashchandra Agarwal to buy land in the name of the trust in 2013.

The entire sum was paid to Agarwal even before he signed and handed over ownership documents, and the trust neither got the land nor the money it had paid, Desai alleged.

At least 12 such employees were suddenly sacked without notice, Desai alleged, demanding a probe.

Secretary Amin said the trust has already filed a police complaint against Agarwal for not returning Rs 13 crore, and the employees, who were sacked had been hired on an ad-hoc basis and have moved the high court against their termination. PTI PJT PD ARU