By IANS,
Shimla : A member of the International Roerich Memorial Trust (IRMT), which manages Russian painter and philosopher Nicholas Roerich’s estate in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, Monday alleged irregularities and mismanagement in the trust.
In a letter to state Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu, Roerich Trust’s life member Shakti Singh Chandel alleged that the “store stocktaking or verification (of the Roerich Museum) has not taken place for the past 10 years”.
“We do not know as to what all is there in our inventory,” former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Chandel, settled here, said. “I was in Moscow in September and the Russians expressed apprehension that many things have disappeared from the IRMT.”
Chandel said he pointed out these lapses some months ago. “The Russian ambassador to India, Alexander M. Kadakin, (who is also the IRMT vice-president) raised objection,” he said.
The charge comes close on the heels of news that the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) realised that two of Roerich’s paintings were stolen from its collection when authorities in London said these had come up for auction in the UK.
Chandel’s letter also expressed concern over the reported theft and went on to say, “The paintings and the artifacts are valuable heritage of the late Roerichs.” He also alleged that “the Trust is suffering from serious financial irregularities”.
He said that the trustees had failed to attain any of the goals set by Roerich’s son Svyatoslav and Svyatoslav’s actress-wife Devika Rani. “The trust is not functioning in accordance with the provisions of the Trust Act,” he said.
The Himachal Pradesh government in February ordered a probe into allegations of financial irregularities and mismanagement in the Roerich Trust.
The government action came after Chandel shot off a communication to state Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who is the ex-officio president of the trust, on Sep 28, 2010, raising serious issues ranging from financial irregularities to mismanagement.
The Roerich estate is located in Naggar, 25 km from Kullu town.
Nicholas Roerich came down to Naggar in 1927 from St. Petersburg and made the tiny village his home for more than 20 years.
His wife Helena, a famous writer, and sons Yuri, a prominent Oriental scholar, and painter Svyatoslav, and daughter-in-law Devika Rani all stayed with him in Naggar.
Roerich, who died in Naggar Dec 13, 1947, created more than 7,000 paintings in his lifetime.
His estate comprises the premises of the Indian-Russian Memorial Complex, the Gallery of N.K. Roerich, Helena Roerich Arts College and exhibition halls in the buildings of the Urusvati Himalayan Folk Art Museum.