Diocesan news sources say that school and college buildings have opened to reserve beds to treat or quarantine Coronavirus patients. While that is to be applauded, the truth is there are enough beds in the custody of the State Governments. Tamilnadu has 28,000 beds which is more than required at the present time. The State has reportedly about 1000 cases of Coronavirus affected persons. Offering something which people do not require is not 'charity'. Such an act can only be termed 'pretentious altruism' because the bishops know that the announcement is not going to cost them anything but have them on record that they have generously opened their institutions for charity.

It is predicted by the Government that in the next few weeks a new scenario will reveal the deep effects of the Coronavirus which many will find hard to imagine.

At present 40% of all Coronavirus patients in India have succumbed to the illness and died due to the lack of ventilators. Eight medical doctors who attended patients have contracted the virus and have died martyr's deaths.

Why doesn't the CSI/CSITA do something to take up these challenges rather than making pretentious promises to do things for which there is no pressing need or throwing a pittance in the name of religious charity?

I appeal to you, sir, that the CSITA dig deep into its pockets and arrange to buy ventilators for dying Coronavirus patients and also gift LIC covers for medical doctors, nurses and other workers who bury the dead so that in the event of their premature death they will have insurance money to support their families.

At least two Indian companies make ventilators at present, mostly from imported components. They cost around 150,000 rupees each ($1977). One of them, AgVa Healthcare, plans to make 20,000 in a month's time. Cheaper ventilators are also being produced in India for Rs. 50,000 ($659). The Government, we are told, has ordered 20,000 ventilators from China. But they say that that will meet just a fraction of the potential demand.

Why doesn't the CSI churches/CSITA make a contribution to purchase at least 50 ventilators which will cost much less than Rs. 1 crore ($131,841) which the retiring bishop of Dornakal diocese will get in cash as a farewell gift at his forthcoming retirement. He will also receive a gift of 600 Sq. yards plot of land in Khammam with Rs. 60 lakhs ($79,104) to construct a house and an additional 25 lakhs ($32,960) to purchase a car. These decisions (it is not clear who made them) are forwarded to the Working Committee of the CSI for rubber-stamp approval.

An official from the Dornakal diocese is not aware of such decisions being made as the bishop retires in June 2021 but he says that the diocese (which has a turnover of 7.5 crores ($982,543) in 2019-2020 with a meagre profit of a negligible amount) might take such decisions if it was asked to do so by a high-level committee. Where will such a huge amount of money come from? How will the CSITA, a non-profit company, justify such spending?

Three CSI bishops each receive Rs. 150,000 ($1,965) as their monthly salaries. The amount is almost four times higher than the salary received before they were made bishops. There is no fixed pay scale for the bishops. They can take any amount from the diocese if the executive committee of the respective dioceses approve it. In addition, they collect perks and allowances. One of these perks includes 10,000 to 20,000 rupees ($131 to $263) for each sermon he delivers. If he repeats the sermon in four different congregations, he gets the same amount for each sermon.

People throw money (in lakhs/ in multiples of $1,318) celebrating the birthdays of bishops and their wives. Lavish spending is witnessed in the family weddings of bishops. Some, if not all of it is taken from church funds.

A REAL STORY

In a CSI diocese, the Treasurer used to purchase vegetables, groceries, fish, mutton etc. daily from church's money and quietly send them to the bishop's kitchen. The practice continued for 8 months until the bishop asked the Treasurer to stop the practice. He was prepared pay back the money but the administrators said, "No. That's alright!'"

In the year 2008-2009, legal expenses for the CSITA were shown as Rs. 34 lakhs ($44,825). The year before (i.e. 2007-2008) it was a much less figure of just Rs. 3 lakhs ($3,955). Some Rs. 300,000 ($3,955) were spent on legal and professional expenses in 2007-2008. This increased by leaps and bounds in the financial year 2016-2017 to Rs. 14,00,000,00 ($1,845,770). Legal and professional charges for the year 2015-16 amounted to Rupees 11 crores ($ 1,450,250). The financial year 2018-2019 has an entry of Rs. 12.73 crores ($1,678,330).

These figures do not include the money spent by each of the 23 dioceses (with some 20,000 congregations,) where court-cases are piling up every year adding to the above legal fees and advocate charges to find settlements to issues created by groups fighting ascendancy, control and power in the Church.

What is the source of this multi-crore expense on legal professional charges year after year?

Why do bishops stop with distributing curd/tomato rice pockets and a water-bottle to what they call the poor and needy. They reveal a messiah complex in publicising their alms-giving.

The truth is the bishops spend nothing from their own pockets.

No bishop is prepared to take a pay cut in their salaries (like the country's rulers and legislators) so that their monies could be donated to victims of Coronavirus and their families.

What have you done with the profits earned from the CSITA institutions? The profit figures shown in the annual Financial Statements are as follows:

March2019: Rs.1,892,872,881 ($24,955,800)

March2018: Rs.2,024,119,570 ($26,686,200)

March2017: Rs.1,849,731,405 ($24,387,000)

March2016: Rs.1,737,435,085 ($22,906,500)

March2015: Rs.1,432,228,433 ($18,882,600)

March2014: Rs.2,034,050,785 ($26,817,100)

March2013: Rs.950,371 ($12,530)

March2012: Rs.1,340,121 ($17,668)

March 2011: Rs. 4,645 ($61)

As per Sec. 8 of the Companies Act 2013, profits made each year have to be spent on promoting the objects of the company and 'charity' is one of them. With the Profits earned by the CSITA in the last five financial years as reported by the Financial Statements filed to the Registrar of Companies, these monies could have started at least four medical colleges.

PLEASE CONSIDER A GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION TO FIGHT THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. Send your cheques to the Government authorities concerned with instructions as to how the amount should be spent.

The Rev. Dr. Joseph Gnanaseelan Muthuraj is a historian of the Church of South India and a member of the CSI Trust Association. He is a regular contributor to Virtueonline