Himachal Pradesh temples to invest monetary offerings in financial plans

KANGRA - Taking note of rising thefts in temples in Himachal Pradesh, the state government is set to devise smarter ways to invest donations made in gold, silver or cash.

Temple authorities say they are finding it real chore to manage hundreds of kilos of gold, besides tonnes of other precious metals lying in their respective treasuries.he priests also say that so much accumulated wealth poses a big threat for the security of the temple.

The State Government is now planning to adopt strategies employed by other major temples of the country, like the Tirupati temple and the Vaishno Devi temple. These temples have taken to investing all their monetary offerings with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or in various schemes or bonds.

Temples in the hill state like Jwalamukhi, Chintpurani, Brijeshawari Devi, Chamunda Devi, and Nayana Devi have huge quantities of precious metals.

“The policy which government is formulating will be hugely beneficial for temples because the gold and silver stocked here is not getting any income for the temple. And now the government is working to have a policy to invest it. This would help in getting income for the temple. So this is a good initiative by the government and government is working on it,” said Sudesh Nayyar, officer of Jwalamukhi Temple.

Nayyar added they have already invested 17 kilograms of gold in gold bond scheme and getting interest from it.

He further said that at present they have about 12 kg gold and 219 kg pure silver in their stock room.

The state government is now planning to make the amendments in the Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religion and Charitable Endowment Act of 1984.

“Our cabinet members will study this Act and see whether such a provision is there in the Act or not. The government will not raise any issue if such a provision is there, and if it’s not there, then we will take measures to create it. After this, the permission to go forward will be given to the concerned temple organisations. As of now this is the proposal,” said State Chief Minister PK Dhumal.

As per media reports, there are about 410 kilograms of gold worth 700 million rupees that have to be taken care of by the state government. (ANI)