Amid bad blood, David Sassoon Library head calls it a day
After the special general body of the vintage David Sassoon Library at Kalaghoda rejected a proposal to repair the Grade I heritage structure’s leaky roof, the library’s president Vivekanand Ajgaonkar has resigned.
He said that even though the Kala Ghoda Association was ready to partly fund the renovation, the special general body snubbed the proposal.
“Conservation architect Vikas Dilawari had given a report, and the Kala Ghoda Association wanted to fund repairs up to Rs 31 lakh. But the special general body meeting rejected the proposal,” Ajgaonkar, who has been associated with the library for more than 25 years, told Mirror.
In an emotive resignation letter addressed to the library’s vice-president Kaushik Oza, Ajgaonkar spoke of how he and his colleagues restored the building by soliciting donations, kept a non-corrupt management and built “trust in the minds of donors, media, and members”. But this is a claim that certain managing committee members vehemently contested.
Ajgaonkar accused some members of spreading misinformation about him. “Some misinterpreted my continuous devotion as a desire to cling on to power,” his letter said, accusing some of starting a defamatory campaign against him and the managing committee by finding support in others dissatisfied with his decisions to uphold discipline at the library. “The Special General Meeting on May 5, 2016 and the behaviour of some committee members was a shock to me, a rude painful shock,” the letter stated.
Ajgaonkar concluded by saying he could not work with constant opposition and being at loggerheads with people who do not heed the library’s interests. “I do not wish to hang on to my post if I cannot do any good for the institution,” he said in the letter.
Others in the managing committee, though, cited different reasons for the move. Kirtikumar Oza said Ajgaonkar had to quit due to allegations of graft. “There was a lot of misuse of funds and mismanagement by certain people. We are about five members who put it on record about his misdeeds and he had to resign,” said Oza, library vice-president’s younger brother. He added a committee meeting will be held on July 5.
Macchindra Gaikwad said four people quit since the new managing committee took charge. “It’s been almost a year since the new committee was formed. There are four resignations including that of Ajgaonkar. There were many problems,” he said.
Vaibhav Haldankar said under Ajgaonkar, the committee used up all corpus and life membership funds for various expenses. “Even fixed deposits were withdrawn. Ajgaonkar and others should have taken the permission of the managing committee. One member resigned because he had got insurance policies for the staff and we found that his wife is an insurance agent who took the commissions.”
Maneck Davar, honorary chairperson of Kala Ghoda Association, said, “Ajgaonkar's given a lot to the institution. But they haven’t been successful in raising funds for the building.”
He said that even though the Kala Ghoda Association was ready to partly fund the renovation, the special general body snubbed the proposal.
“Conservation architect Vikas Dilawari had given a report, and the Kala Ghoda Association wanted to fund repairs up to Rs 31 lakh. But the special general body meeting rejected the proposal,” Ajgaonkar, who has been associated with the library for more than 25 years, told Mirror.
Managing Committee member Ramdas Thorat said Ajgaonkar had proposed repairs worth Rs 1.33 crore, but the proposal was defeated. “It was a big setback for Ajgaonkar,” he said.
In an emotive resignation letter addressed to the library’s vice-president Kaushik Oza, Ajgaonkar spoke of how he and his colleagues restored the building by soliciting donations, kept a non-corrupt management and built “trust in the minds of donors, media, and members”. But this is a claim that certain managing committee members vehemently contested.
Ajgaonkar accused some members of spreading misinformation about him. “Some misinterpreted my continuous devotion as a desire to cling on to power,” his letter said, accusing some of starting a defamatory campaign against him and the managing committee by finding support in others dissatisfied with his decisions to uphold discipline at the library. “The Special General Meeting on May 5, 2016 and the behaviour of some committee members was a shock to me, a rude painful shock,” the letter stated.
Ajgaonkar concluded by saying he could not work with constant opposition and being at loggerheads with people who do not heed the library’s interests. “I do not wish to hang on to my post if I cannot do any good for the institution,” he said in the letter.
Others in the managing committee, though, cited different reasons for the move. Kirtikumar Oza said Ajgaonkar had to quit due to allegations of graft. “There was a lot of misuse of funds and mismanagement by certain people. We are about five members who put it on record about his misdeeds and he had to resign,” said Oza, library vice-president’s younger brother. He added a committee meeting will be held on July 5.
Macchindra Gaikwad said four people quit since the new managing committee took charge. “It’s been almost a year since the new committee was formed. There are four resignations including that of Ajgaonkar. There were many problems,” he said.
Vaibhav Haldankar said under Ajgaonkar, the committee used up all corpus and life membership funds for various expenses. “Even fixed deposits were withdrawn. Ajgaonkar and others should have taken the permission of the managing committee. One member resigned because he had got insurance policies for the staff and we found that his wife is an insurance agent who took the commissions.”
Maneck Davar, honorary chairperson of Kala Ghoda Association, said, “Ajgaonkar's given a lot to the institution. But they haven’t been successful in raising funds for the building.”
