Ramdev's asset declaration just eyewash

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                                 Photo:Courtesy: Telegraph.co.uk

Updated Jun 09, 2011 at 08:31pm IST

Haridwar: Baba Ramdev and his trusted lieutenant Acharya Balkrishna declared the money spent on charity but did not revel their assets, claiming that all their businesses are above suspicion and their accounts are audited regularly.

Addressing a press conference in Haridwar on Thursday evening Balkrishna claimed that the total capital of different institutions associated with Ramdev is Rs 426.19 crore while the expenditure incurred on them amounted to Rs 751.02 crore. But neither the yoga guru nor his aide disclosed the assets owned by the trusts and neither did they disclose their income tax returns.

However, a close scrutiny of Ramdev's trusts and their capital reveals that the claims of asset declaration have been eyewash.

Accompanied by a visibly weak Ramdev, Balkrishna declared that their oldest trust is Divya Yog Mandir whose capital is Rs 249.63 crore while the capital of Patanjali Yogpeeth is 164.80 crore.

"The Divya Yoga Mandir Trust has a capital base of Rs 249.63 crore. The Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust has Rs 164.80 crore, and Bharat Swabhiman Trust has rs 9.97 crore. Acharya Kulumbh Siskhshan Sansthan has a capital of Rs 1.69 crore," claimed Balkrishna.

He claimed that the trusts were involved in a lot of welfare activities.

"We contribute lot during natural calamities in India through Patanjali. We believe in transparency. There are so many questions raised about assets of our organisations. We maintain proper accounts and an annual audit of all the trusts and companies are carried out. The government renews our trusts after every two years only when our audit reports are presented," said Balkrishna.

Ramdev and Balkrishna also declined to comment on the number of companies that the different trusts own and said that the details could be obtained from Registrar of Companies under the RTI Act.

"We also pay income tax and TDS is also deducted. We follow all rules. Details of all out associate companies can be taken from Registrar of Companies and from the government under the RTI Act. Tax details and balance sheets of trusts have been put on the web site," he said.

Balkrishna claimed that all the details about the assets have been uploaded on their website www.divyayoga.com.

The yoga guru, who is on a fast since June 4 demanding that black money stashed away abroad be brought back, added his hunger strike will continue till his demands are met.

The unanswered questions on asset declaration:

How many companies do Baba and associates own?

What are the businesses his firms are involved in?

Who are the big donors for Ramdev's trusts?

Why hasn't Ramdev revealed his income tax returns?

What is the value of land alloted to Ramdev and his trusts?

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