GOD, PLEASE DON’T MIND OLD NOTES!
DEVOTION TRUMPS DEMONETISATION Even eight months after the government scrapped highvalue currency, devotees continue to offer old notes at the region’s prominent shrines such as the Golden Temple, Vaishno Devi, and Chintpurni, leaving their managements f
AMRITSAR: Even eight months after the government scrapped high-value currency, devotees continue to offer old notes at the region’s prominent shrines such as the Golden Temple, Vaishno Devi, and Chintpurni, leaving their managements flummoxed. Little knowing what to do with the cash stash, they are praying to RBI for one more chance to exchange notes.
AMRITSAR : Six months after the government’s deadline to surrender banned currency notes in the denomination of ₹1,000 and ₹500 lapsed, devotees continue to offer the scrapped notes to the Almighty.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) that manages the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, is saddled with ₹20 lakh in old notes. It has another ₹6 lakh collected from donations offered in golaks (donation boxes) in other gurdwaras managed by it.
Golden Temple manager Sulakhan Singh says the management stopped issuing receipts for offerings of scrapped notes last December but that hasn’t deterred devotees. “Initially, the golaks got scrapped notes in bulk. The trend has stemmed but there are still some devotees who slip in such notes. Our
sewadars (employees) can’t forbid them from doing so as it vitiates the spiritual environment inside the sanctum sanctorum,” he says, sharing his dilemma.
The SGPC, which manages 79 historical gurdwaras among others, wrote to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), urging it to exchange the old notes but in vain. The recent Supreme Court that gives the Centre and RBI two weeks to consider granting a window to those who have not been able to exchange the scrapped notes for n genuine reasons may be a godsend for SGPC. An average of ₹7 crore is collected from the Golden Temple golak every month. A total of ₹74 crore was collected in the last financial year.
THE GOLDEN TEMPLE IS SADDLED WITH ₹20 LAKH DONATED IN OLD NOTES. IT HAS ANOTHER ₹6 LAKH COLLECTED AS OFFERINGS IN OTHER GURDWARAS
WITH ₹6 LAKH IN OLD NOTES, VAISHNO DEVI SHRINE SEEKS RBI HELP
JAMMU: The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, the second richest temple shrine in the country after Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, has got ₹6 lakh in demonetised currency as donation since December 31 last year.
The board got ₹2.55 crore in demonetised currency from November 9 to December 31, which was deposited with the RBI.
“After the initial rush, offerings in demonetised currency have come down. We have appealed to the RBI to guide us on what to do with the old currency,” says Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board chief executive officer AK Sahu.
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of high-value notes on November 8 last year, the shrine board set up swipe machines along the route to facilitate pilgrims to make cashless payments through debit and credit cards. It issued advisories by circulating pamphlets appealing to pilgrims not to put old currency notes in donation boxes but that hasn’t deterred the devotees.
AT CHINTPURNI TEMPLE, ₹9.8 LAKH & COUNTING
DHARAMSHALA : Old currency notes continue to find their way into donation boxes at the Chintpurni shrine in Himachal Pradesh, too.
Till June-end, the Chintpurni temple received cash offerings worth ₹9.86 lakh in old notes.
Temple officer Rania Ram says that from January to March, the temple received ₹6.5 lakh in old notes. In the next three months, the amount went up to ₹9.86 lakh.
On June 1, temple priests found 203 old notes in the denomination of ₹500 while counting the offerings.
The scrapped notes find their way into donation boxes despite notices to devotees and the close watch by the security staff.
“Security personnel have stopped devotees from dropping old currency in donation boxes but some still manage by placing the banned notes between new ones,” Rania Ram says.
Four days after demonetisation, some people tried to exchange banned currency worth lakhs with smaller denomination notes with the help of the temple officer and assistant temple officer, who were later placed under suspension.
MANSA DEVI TEMPLE HOPES RBI WILL ACCEPT OLD NOTES
PANCHKULA: The Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board is also in a fix over old currency notes in its donation boxes.
Board chief executive officer VG Goel says, “We are collecting such cash separately but we don’t know what to do with it. No bank accepts the cash. We will be happy if people’s offering to God is accepted.”
Within 8 days of the Prime Minister announcing demonetisation to curb corruption, the temple got about ₹10 lakh in scrapped notes. “It’s quite less now compared to those days,” Goel adds.
Security personnel have stopped devotees from dropping old currency in donation boxes but some still manage by placing the banned notes between new ones. RANIA RAM, Chintpurni temple officer