Gold-rich temples not keen on ‘melting’

As the government seeks to monetise $1 trillion worth gold lying idle, all eyes are on their biggest temples. But many of them fear that melting ornaments donated by devotees may hurt religious sentiments. Besides, some like Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala and Shirdi Sai Baba temple in Maharashtra face ongoing court cases.

What the trade federation says

• The All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation is working on suggestions to be submitted to the Centre. The federation will ask the government to introduce a simple and practical process for jewellers to act as collection centres. Federation former chairman Bachhraj Bamalwa said, “The jewellers as of now are facing hardship to meet the conditions set by the government.”
• State-run MMTC’s CMD Ved Prakash said discussions are on with the banks, verification centres and refiners.

The scheme: The Gold Monetisation Scheme, an ambitious initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, aims to bring an estimated 22,000 tonnes of gold lying idle with households, religious institutions and others into the financial system in return for a regular interest payout and the market-linked appreciation value.

The gold can be deposited even in the jewellery form, but it gets melted and the value is determined after testing its purity. The depositor can choose an option to get back the gold at a later date in the equivalent of ‘995 fineness gold or Indian rupees’ as they desire, but not in the same form.

Maharashtra: The Sai Baba temple in Shirdi, which has 384 kg of gold reserves, will have to go by the decision of the Bombay High Court on participating in this scheme. Sources said the temple was interested in participating in the scheme.

Earlier, Bombay High Court had barred the temple trust from melting the gold, which is a prerequisite in the Gold Monetisation Scheme. The Trust, which has an annual turnover of around Rs 350 crore, feels that the interest income from the scheme can be used for the temple-run hospitals and to provide free meals to the devotees.

Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai is already exploring the idea. “We have 160kg of gold in our reserves right now, out of which 10 kg is already deposited with the State Bank of India at an annual interest of 1 per cent. We are now contemplating proper utilisation of these gold ornaments, for which no bidder came forward,” said Narendra Rane, Chairman of Siddhivinayak temple Trust.

Gujarat: Only one major temple has shown some interest in the scheme. “Our trust has around 35 kg of pure gold, which can be deposited under this scheme. Other gold is in the form of decorative ornaments, which is meant for day-to-day use in the temple,” said Somnath temple trust secretary P K Lahiri said.

The Devbhumi-Dwarka temple has not taken a decision yet. H.K. Patel, collector and ex-officio chairman of Dwarkadhish temple trust committee, said, “The scheme is worth giving a thought.” Ambaji temple trust committee chairman Dilip Rana, the collector of Banaskantha district, said there was no possibility of depositing the temple gold under this scheme at present.

Kerala: The Devaswom Boards controlling most of the temples have shown mostly lukewarm response to the scheme, except for the Guruvayur Devaswom that manages the Sree Krishna Temple. Kerala minister for Devaswom V.S. Sivakumar said the Devaswom boards are autonomous bodies and the state cannot give any direction on such matters.

In case of the Travancore and Cochin Devaswom Boards, any decision on such matters would need to be ratified by the Kerala High Court, which is their audit and expenditure controller. “So, boards have not shown much interest in the scheme,” a senior official in the state government said.

Travancore Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan, who took charge last month, said he was yet to study details. The board controls the famous Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala. Cochin Devaswom Board member E.A. Rajan said it does not have surplus gold. “Gold is used to attire the idols. They are in jewellery form,” he said.

The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple’s Executive Officer K.N. Sateesh said all temple affairs were under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court. “We cannot say anything on this now,” he said adding that everything depends on the court decision.

Andhra Pradesh: The high level investment committee of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, which manages the world’s richest Hindu temple of Lord Venkateswara, will meet soon to discuss the scheme. The TTD holds about 5.5 tonnes of gold in different forms. AP finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said the TTD is an independent body and does not require any “directive” from the government.

Officials at the Kanakadurga temple in Vijayawada have no plans to participate in the scheme, Executive Officer Narasinga Rao said. “We have 50 kg of gold in the bullion form kept in State Bank of Hyderabad. Another 60 kg is in the form of ornaments which we cannot disturb.”

West Bengal: Dakshineswar Kali Temple’s trustee and secretary Kushal Chowdhury says the temple is intrested in participating in the scheme. “What is the point of leaving the gold lying idle in our vaults? It is better if it is used for welfare of the nation,” he said. The temple panel of Tarapith is yet to give any thought to the scheme. Kalighat temple officials were not available for comment.

Not decided

Telangana: Telangana endowments minister A, Indrakaran Reddy said the temples in the state have not taken any decision on participating in the scheme.

Karnataka: Muzrai minister Manohar Tahsildar said the government has not yet taken any decision. Concerns have been raised of hurting religious sentiments of the people in melting of gold for depositing with banks. It also raised security concerns in transporting gold from temples to melting units and the high costs involved in doing so.