Welfare programs are also rum by charitable trusts. In order to give a legal personality to an organization formed in the fulfillment of the objectives of a trust, registration under the Indian Trusts Act is very essential.

What is a Trust

“A trust is an obligation annexed to the ownership of property and arising out of a confidence reposed in and accepted by the owner, or declared and accepted by him, for the benefit of another, or of another and the owner.”

The person who reposes or declares the confidence is called the ‘author of the trust’; the person who accept the confidence is called the ‘trustee’; the person whose benefit the confidence is accepted is called the ‘beneficiary’.

Section 6 of the Indian Trusts Act lays down that a trust is created when the author of the trust indicates with reasonable certainty by words or act:

1. an intention to create a trust
2. the purpose of the trust
3. the beneficiaries
4. the trust property. Unless the trust is declared by will or the author of the trust himself is trustee, or transfers the trust property to the trustee.

The public or charitable trust is a trust for the benefit of the public at large or a considerable and indeterminate section of the public.

Objects of a charitable trust

The following may be the objectives of a charitable trust:

1. Trusts for the relief of poverty
2. trusts for the advancement of education
3. trusts for the advancement of religion
4. trusts for the other purposes beneficial to the community, not falling under any of the above three heads.

Section 18 of The Transfer of the Property Act also classifies charity under the following heads:

1. Advancement of religion
2. Knowledge
3. Commerce, health and safety
4. Any other object beneficial to mankind.

The following are the duties of a trustee:

1. Trustee is to execute the trust
2. He must inform the state of trust property
3. He must protect title to trust property
4. He must not allow or aid any title to the trust property adverse to the interest of the beneficiary
5. He must exercise reasonable care in regard to the trust property
6. Trustee must be impartial to all the beneficiaries
7. He must prevent waste by the beneficiary in possession of trust property
8. A trustee is bound to keep clear and accurate accounts of the trust property, and furnish at all reasonable times full and accurate information as the amount and state of the trust.