Ottwin Township cracks down on undocumented donation-seekers for purification of Sasana

As those asking for donation without legal permission and complete documents and some wearing robes are disgracing Buddhism, the Ottwin Township Sasana Preservation Group is giving warnings and taking supervisory action against them, Sayadaw U Tejasiri, a member of the group, told The Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
If donation recipients with false references and incomplete documents are identified, they will be warned the first time, and if they are found again, action will be taken against them, including those who do not comply with the monk’s code of conduct.
“Our Township Sangha Committee decided at its meeting. If an donation-seeker enters the township, they must show the recommendation letter from the respective ward/village Sangha Nayaka committees. If they ask for donation on the roadside for one month, they need permission from the township Sangha Nayaka committees. We have distributed this official resolution to the management committee. We check each group collecting donation to see if they have permission. We also trace these persons. Some bought rice from the shops near Kabaung Bridge. Some bought and drank alcohol. Some gave what they received to their families,” the Sayadaw said.
If those receiving donation don’t have the required documents, they are told to leave the township. If a single monk without a serene look is asking for donation the first time, he will be given a warning, and the second time, he will be disrobed, and a case will be filed for tarnishing the Sasana if the inspectors smell alcohol, he said.
“Sasana is originally clean. We arrest those who exploit the situation. Some get drunk inside the monastery. If we get concrete information, we go and catch the person, and seal the monastery,” he added. — Htet Oo Maung/ZN