On April 13 The Mata Amritanandamayi Math announced that it was donating $1.7 Million to those who were facing hardship due to the illness and its consequences. Everything seems to be fine, so what’s wrong?
Well, the problem is that according to an American devotee who posted an link on Facebook in April 2020, Amma had to borrow the money from a bank to provide Covid-19 relief. She had to take a $1.7 Million loan. How come that she cannot fund her charities on her own? How can she be broke when millions of devotees and followers donate worldwide for that specific purpose? The post says that Mata Amritanandamayi now needs our help to repay the loan. Tax deductible donation must be sent to the Amma Center in the USA.
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Let’s try to understand what is going on.
Because of the lockdown Amma couldn’t complete her 2020 world tour. She may have toured from January to February 8 only. Is she consequently lacking funds? Yet it seems like her organization has stashed impressive savings in a bank somewhere in the world. In fact FCRA 2011-2012 reveals that M.A. Math received $3.4 Million of bank interest that year. You can check for yourself.
Browse to https://fcraonline.nic.in/fc3_amount.aspx and fill the form like this.
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Then submit the form. Find “Mata Amritanandmayi Math” in the NGOs list (number 052930183). Click on the link entitled “View” on the right of the page. Allow popup window in your browser and there you are, looking at all foreign donations declared by the organization to the Indian government for the year 2011-2012. The figures are given in rupees, the bank interests lie among them. According to some estimations, the Math may probably have invested hundreds of Million in order to earn such an amount. Why requesting 1 Million when at least 3 pour in each year?
Another detail raises a few doubts. We know now that the donations are not just meant for charities. A significant part is invested in universities and particularly research labs. What do the figures reveal about that? This Amrita World article dedicated to the labs claims that : “Amrita has received over US $5 Billion in research funding from national and international agencies”. Indeed adding the various figures mentioned shows that at least 260 Crores have been used by the labs. That’s roughly $35 Million. How come that the M.A. Math can easily find $35 Million to run its scientific centers while failing to gather $1.7 Million for its charitable activities?
There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding here. Feel free to “help” her. Feel equally free to ask yourself some questions.