Guv’s name as patron missing from MSPCA records
A section of Madras Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) life members are in a state of shock and have expressed displeasure with the current office bearers and adhoc committee members for removing the name of the Governor as the patron of the animal welfare society that has its history dating back to 1881.
The annual report of the organisation, even till last year stated the TN Governor as patron and all the letter pads used by MSPCA had a reference about the Governor, but this year, his name has gone missing from the records. The current administrators have also stopped submitting audit reports to the State government. According to insiders, the annual agenda, minutes of the general body meeting and audit accounts were earlier submitted to the State
Animal Husbandry Department and to the Governor’s office seeking grants, but now this practice has completely stopped.
“With corruption and misappropriation of funds going unchecked, the existing members want the government and Governor’s office to be away from MSPCA. Even a retired IAS officer SS Jawahar and retied government deputy secretary who were appointed to cleanse the organisation left the SPCA silently due to unfair practices,” said Dowlath Khan, former chief inspector, MSPCA. The name was changed to Madras Society for the Protection and Care of Animals and after the name change, the rights to enforce the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals Act with powers from TN Home Department also hangs in the balance, Khan added. When contacted, MSPCA secretary P Anbarasan said that the previous office bearers changed the name of the society through a special resolution in 2016 altering its original incorporation certificate dating back to March 1, 1899. “The Governor is a patron guardian for the SPCA as per its century-old bylaws, but with the society name being changed, we were not able to include the Governor’s name into the list of honorary office bearers,” Anbarasan said, adding that the current office bearers are trying to undo the changes made by previous office bearers.
“This is robbing the SPCA of its heritage and legacy,” said K Sridhar, a life member demanding government intervention and inclusion of new office bearers into the organisation to bring transparency. A few former staff and life members also moved petitions before the HC seeking transparency on matters related to SPCA which controls properties worth over Rs 100 crore in Chennai and Tiruvallur.