Mumbai, August 13, 2026: Rakhi Chavan, the newly appointed Executive Officer of the Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust, assumed charge on Thursday, August 13, amid heightened scrutiny of the temple’s administration following allegations of irregularities in the handling of devotees’ donations.
Chavan formally took over the responsibilities of the trust’s Executive Officer on Thursday. Her appointment follows the government’s decision to replace Veena More-Patil, who had faced allegations in connection with the administration of the temple trust.
The government is also expected to appoint an Executive Secretary from the ministerial departments, with applications having been invited from interested officers.
Scrutiny Intensifies Over Donations
The change in the trust’s administrative set-up comes against the backdrop of allegations of large-scale misappropriation of donations. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray had alleged that around Rs 18 crore was being siphoned off annually from the temple’s donation collections.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis subsequently ordered a probe into the allegations, while Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed Additional Chief Secretary Aseem Gupta to conduct an inquiry into the temple’s donations and accounts.
The controversy follows an earlier theft case in March, when Dadar Police arrested a temple employee for allegedly stealing cash from donation boxes.
CCTV footage reportedly showed the employee removing currency notes from a donation box kept in the priests’ room. Police had estimated the amount involved in that incident at around Rs 10,000 and were probing whether others were involved.
Siddhi Entrance To Remain Closed
Meanwhile, the temple trust has announced that its Siddhi entrance will remain temporarily closed to devotees from August 17 to facilitate ongoing beautification and redevelopment work on the temple premises.
During the period, devotees will be permitted to enter through the Riddhi entrance for darshan, said Deputy Executive Officer Sandeep Rathod.
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The beautification project was inaugurated on May 25 in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde and Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi, among others.
The trust has appealed to devotees to cooperate with the arrangements during the project period.
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