About the Trust
Humanitarian Activities — Overview & Legal Standing
The Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust (“SSSCT” or “the Trust”) is an irrevocable public charitable trust established on 2 September 1972 by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, registered at Prasanthi Nilayam, Sri Sathya Sai District, Andhra Pradesh, India, with a second seat of operations at Whitefield, Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Guided by the motto “Love All, Serve All,” the Trust administers hospitals, schools, a university, water and social-relief programmes across India, all provided entirely free of charge and without distinction of caste, creed, religion, nationality, or economic status.
This document consolidates the Trust’s legal basis, activities, and financial scale from its founding Trust Deed and its three most recent published Annual Reports (FY2021-22, FY2023-24, FY2024-25).
1. Legal Basis and Governance
1.1 Constitution
- Constituted by Trust Deed dated 2 September 1972, amended by Deed of Amendment dated 11 March 1994; the Trust is declared irrevocable (Trust Deed, cl. 2).
- Registered offices at Prasanthi Nilayam, Andhra Pradesh, and at Brindavan, Whitefield, Bengaluru, Karnataka (Trust Deed, cl. 2A).
- Objects of the Trust (Trust Deed, cl. 4), stated to align with “Relief to the Poor, Medical Relief, Education and any other objects of general public utility as defined in section 2(15) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961”:
- Education — establishing and running schools, colleges, polytechnics, research centres and hostels; scholarships and studentships; free of tuition.
- Medical Relief — establishing and running hospitals, clinics, dispensaries, medical research centres, blood/drug banks, and free rural medical camps.
- Relief to the Poor — food, clothing, shelter, cash grants, disaster relief (earthquakes, floods, famines, epidemics), and support for orphanages and rehabilitation centres.
- Other Objects of General Public Utility — public halls, libraries, cultural and vocational upliftment programmes, and promotion of national integrity and secular solidarity.
- The Trust Deed explicitly provides that “all the activities… will be carried on in India without a profit motive and the benefits thereof will be available to the public at large without any distinction of community, caste or creed” (cl. 4, N.B.), and that trust property may never be distributed among the trustees, even on dissolution (cl. 15–16).
- Governance: a Board of Trustees (not exceeding 9, per cl. 5) manages the Trust; Books of account are closed each 31 March and audited annually by a Chartered Accountant (cl. 8).
1.2 Current Board of Trustees
- Sri R.J. Rathnakar — Managing Trustee (MBA, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning)
- Sri K. Chakravarthi, IAS (Retd.) — Chancellor, SSSIHL; former Registrar; former Finance Secretary (Projects), Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
- Dr. V. Mohan — Chairman & Chief of Diabetology, Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre; Padma Shri (2012)
- Sri Ryuko Hira — President, HMI Group of Hotels and Resorts; Chairman, Indian Commerce & Industry Association, Japan
- Sri S.S. Naganand — Chartered Accountant; Senior Advocate, High Court of Karnataka & Supreme Court of India
- Sri Manohar Shetty — Hospitality/infrastructure businessman
- Dr. Vijay L. Kelkar — Chairman, India Development Foundation; former Chairman/Secretary, Finance Commission of India; Padma Vibhushan
- Sri I.S.N. Prasad, IAS (Retd.) — former Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) & Principal Secretary (IT & BT), Govt. of Karnataka
- Justice V. Ramasubramanian (Retd.) — former Judge, Supreme Court of India; Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission; former Chief Justice, Himachal Pradesh High Court
1.3 Statutory Compliance
- Books of account audited annually; auditor of record: Sivanandam & Co., Chartered Accountants, Chennai (Firm Registration No. 007657S) — unqualified “true and fair view” opinion for FY2021-22, FY2023-24 and FY2024-25.
- Annual income-tax returns filed every year; the Trust responds to Income Tax Department queries as raised.
- Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act reports submitted regularly to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
- Annual financial statements, together with details of asset additions/deletions, filed with the Assistant Commissioner of Endowments, Anantapur, under section 43(10) of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable & Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987.
- All contributions to the Trust are voluntary donations from individuals; the Trust does not report institutional or government grant funding as a income source (Annual Reports FY2021-22 – FY2024-25).
2. Healthcare
Free Medical Care for All
The Sri Sathya Sai Healthcare System comprises two General Hospitals, two Institutes of Higher Medical Sciences (super-speciality), one Mobile Hospital, two Telehealth Centres, and one Nursing College — all services free of charge to every patient, regardless of ability to pay.
- Approximately 66% of patients treated at the two super-speciality hospitals belong to families with annual income below ₹30,000.
"
Disease has no distinction; it may afflict anybody, be it a pauper or a millionaire… the treatment will be rendered totally free of cost to the rich and poor alike… This Institution will serve the poor forever.
— Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
2.1
Institutes of Higher Medical Sciences
Prasanthigram & Whitefield, combined
| Metric | FY2021-22 | FY2023-24 | FY2024-25 | Since Inception |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPD visits | 2,13,725 | 2,15,154 | 2,29,641 | 78,63,167 |
| Surgeries / procedures | 9,647 | 16,573 | 16,383 | 5,42,344 |
| Diagnostic tests | 9,02,264 | 23,62,844 | 23,85,356 | 5,46,92,747 |
| Patient savings at CGHS rates | ₹188.5 Cr | ₹168.5 Cr | ₹152.8 Cr | ₹3,753 Cr |
- SSSIHMS Whitefield (333-bed, Cardiac Sciences & Neurosciences): since-inception cumulative of ~18.7 lakh outpatients and 1,44,488 surgeries/procedures (FY2024-25 report); electrophysiology and cath-lab capability upgraded with ICE-guided 3D mapping ablation, among the few centres in India offering it.
- SSSIHMS-hosted ATHMA Hospital Information System rolled out across both super-speciality campuses (Prasanthigram, Sep 2024; Whitefield, Jan 2025), unifying the Medical Record Number and running on Microsoft Azure Cloud (see Section 6).
2.2 General Hospitals and Mobile Hospital
- Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital, Prasanthi Nilayam (est. 1956, the Trust’s first medical institution) — daily OPD of 800–1,000 patients across a five-mandal catchment; NBE-recognised DNB Family Medicine training programme.
- Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital, Whitefield (est. 1976; 80-bed) — FY2024-25: 1,37,058 OP consultations and 3,562 surgeries/procedures.
- Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital, Prasanthi Nilayam (est. 2006) — rural outreach to 350 villages (~6 lakh population) around Puttaparthi via ~300 rotating volunteer doctors across 15 specialties; FY2024-25: 59,788 patients, 520 surgeries, 35,810 investigations across 53 mandals.
- Support extended to Mahabodhi Karuna Charitable Hospital, Leh, Ladakh — ₹75.82 lakh committed in FY2023-24 to re-equip a 40-bed facility, with a further ₹2 crore Phase-2 commitment approved February 2024; hospital re-launched 26 May 2024.
- COVID-19 response (FY2021-22) — a dedicated 125-bed COVID facility at Puttaparthi and COVID wards at SSSIHMS Whitefield (80 oxygen beds + 10 ICU beds, treating ~250 patients in the second wave); two on-site oxygen generation plants (500 L/min at Prasanthigram, cost ₹90 lakh; 200 L/min at Whitefield) covering ~90% of surgical/ICU oxygen needs.
3. Education
Value-Based, Fee-Free Learning
All education across the Trust’s institutions is provided entirely free of tuition and fees, on merit-based, open admission irrespective of income, caste, or religion.
| Metric | FY2021-22 | FY2023-24 | FY2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total students (schools + university) | 3,964 | 4,678 | 4,914 |
| Academic staff | 346 | 328 | 322 |
| Academic staff : student ratio | 1:11 | 1:14 | 1:15 |
| Avg. cost per school student / year | ₹19,000–35,000 | ₹23,600 | ₹30,300 |
| Avg. cost per university student / year | — | ₹2,53,000 | ₹2,51,000 |
- Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) — deemed-to-be university with four campuses (Prasanthi Nilayam, Anantapur, Muddenahalli, Brindavan/Whitefield), offering undergraduate through post-doctoral research, entirely free. FY2024-25’s 43rd Convocation conferred 463 degrees, 22 Gold Medals and 14 PhDs; the university holds Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) Gold-Level recognition — the only Asian institution so recognised.
- Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School, Smt. Eswaramma High School (Puttaparthi), Sri Sathya Sai Gurukulam English Medium School (Rajahmundry) and Sri Sathya Sai Primary School (New Delhi) — consistently near-100% Board pass rates with high distinction rates each year.
- Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vahini — a 14-year-old national EdTech programme delivering the Trust’s values-based “Educare” curriculum; by FY2023-24 its content reached 64 Sai schools, 529 government schools under NITI Aayog, and 100 Adi Dravidar Welfare schools in Tamil Nadu, supported by teacher-training programmes (e.g., SOPAAN, aligned to NEP 2020/NIPUN Bharat, active in 11 states and 500+ schools).
- Mid-Day Meal (Ragi Malt) programme, in partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh — free finger-millet nutrition supplement distributed three days a week; FY2024-25 reached approximately 32.5 lakh students across ~44,000 schools statewide.
4. Water Supply
Safe Drinking Water to Millions
- Major pipeline projects delivered in Anantapur; Medak & Mahabubnagar; Chennai; and East & West Godavari districts.
- Combined coverage: 1,621 villages plus the city of Chennai, serving about 31.9 lakh (3.19 million) people besides Chennai city.
- Infrastructure: ~4,296 km of pipeline laid at a total project cost of ~₹683 crore, handed over to state governments/communities on completion.
- Smaller current-generation water initiatives continue under the Trust’s Sociocare programme — e.g., 16 drinking-water plants approved in FY2021-22 for Nuapada and Jagatsinghpur districts, Odisha.
5. Social Service, Relief & Sustainability
5.1 Disaster and Community Relief
- Kerala floods (2018) — renovation of eight flood-affected nursery schools (Cherthala, Chettikulangara, Thamarakulam, Chengannur, Mannar, Punnapra, Kandalloor, Mararikulam), ~₹1.5 crore; nine rural childcare centres (Anganwadis) subsequently inaugurated in flood-hit Alappuzha district, February 2024.
- Puttaparthi flash floods (November 2021) — River Chitravati/Bukkapatnam overflow; the Trust distributed prepared food (with Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation India) and blankets to affected residents and schoolchildren.
- COVID-19 relief camps and welfare kits distributed to marginalised communities in rural Anantapur district during FY2021-22 lockdowns.
- Support for a Physiotherapy Centre for children with special needs, Villupuram, Tamil Nadu, and a Skill Development Centre for women at a college in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
- Overseas humanitarian relief historically extended to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Venezuela and Kenya (per Trust’s published cumulative activity).
- Housing rehabilitation: ~1,000 houses built for the needy, including an Odisha housing initiative.
- Nithya Anna Seva — daily free meal/canteen programme; Sai Mitra Grama Seva — sustained village-adoption and welfare service; an estimated 52 lakh (5.2 million) volunteer service-hours contributed annually, with cultural and spiritual outreach active in over 120 countries.
5.2 Sustainability
| Metric | FY2021-22 | FY2023-24 | FY2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative solar capacity installed | 6.24 MWp | 6.24 MWp | 6.3 MWp |
| Cumulative clean energy generated | 270 lakh units | 362 lakh units | 442 lakh units |
| Cumulative electricity-bill savings | ₹15.28 Cr | ₹27.28 Cr | ₹33.44 Cr |
| Treated sewage water reused (per year) | — | ~1,800 lakh litres | ~3,000 lakh litres |
Sources: Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust Deed (2 Sept 1972, as amended 11 Mar 1994); SSSCT Annual Report FY2021-22; SSSCT Annual Report FY2023-24; SSSCT Annual Report FY2024-25 (“SSSCT-AR-2025-WEB”).