MUMBAI: Over 5000 public trusts in Maharashtra have had their registrations cancelled in a move by the state government to close down defunct public trusts. About 1.3 lakh more such institutions have been sent notices by the charity commissioner of the state.
Alongside this move to extinguish defunct trusts, charity commissioner Shivkumar Dige said rules for registration have been made easy for new trusts. “Now a new trust can be registered within a day. Over 1,500 new public trusts have been registered under the new provision.”
Reviewing the changes brought in under the Public Trusts Act, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the government is hoping to make the working of trusts more effective.
“The major work in the charity commissioner’s office relates to changes in the board of trustees. That process needs to be easier and transparent,” Fadnavis said.
He added that applications for changes in the board of trustees need to be cleared rapidly and suggested that old cases be cleared within a fortnight.
Dige said his office is also working on audit reports submitted by trusts.
He said a special online system is being developed to review the working of hospitals built by public charity trusts to ensure that they are providing health care to poor and needy patients.