Kerala says no to transfer of temple gold to banks

Thiruvananthapuram: Hindu organizations have opposed monetizing gold wealth at Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple in the wake of Modi Government’s plan to launch a scheme in May that will encourage temples to deposit their gold with banks in return for interest payments.

“What is given as offering to the Lord cannot be taken back. It is sacrilege,” said Shiv Sena state chief Bhuvanachandran. “This proposal to deposit the temple’s gold in banks was first mooted by Manmohan Singh. Then the BJP had opposed it tooth and nail. It is highly deplorable that the very BJP has revived such an abominable proposal,” he said.

Hindu Aikya Vedi’s Kummanam Rajasekharan was also wary of the move. “Offerings that devotees make are not meant to be deposited in banks,” he said. “It is the right of the Hindu community to sit in judgement on the proposal,” he added. However, he said a concrete stand on the issue could be taken only after the details of the plan are laid down.

The BJP state chief V Muralidharan said that the Prime Minister was the last word. “Now that Modiji had spoken, it is the final word. He is our leader and we propagate his policies,” he said.

The temple wealth could be divided into four general categories: 1.Puja vessels 2.Rare gold coins and precious stones 3.Gold and silver bars 4.Gold in the form of granules and sheets.

According to experts, the first two categories should be left untouched while the other wealth could be monetized. The report of the high-powered committee appointed by the Supreme Court had recommended the setting up of a museum to lodge the temple treasures. (Reuters) adds: A few years ago a treasure of gold worth an estimated $20 billion was discovered in secret subterranean vaults in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple in Kerala. India is the world's biggest consumer of gold and its ancient temples have collected billions of dollars in jewellery, bars and coins over the centuries - all hidden securely in vaults, some ancient and some modern.

Now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to get his hands on this temple gold, estimated at about 3,000 tonnes, more than two thirds of the gold held in the U.S bullion depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky, to help tackle India's chronic trade imbalance. The government would melt the gold and loan it to jewellers to meet an insatiable appetite for gold and reduce economically-crippling gold imports, which accounted for 28 percent of India's trade deficit in the year ending March 2013.

India's annual gold imports of 800 to 1,000 tonnes could be cut by a quarter if temples decided to participate in the scheme, say government and industry sources. "We would be happy to deposit our gold to nationalised banks if the policy is beneficial, safe and earns good interest," said Narendra Murari Rane, chairman of the trust for the Siddhivinayak temple, portions of which are gold-plated. But some Hindu devotees are not happy with the idea that their offerings could be melted down. A Mumbai-based gold merchant, who said he and his father had donated around 200 kg of gold to Siddhivinayak and other temples over the years, said it would be a sin for the temples to earn interest on the gold offered to the gods.

"I make donations to God; not to any temple trust," the 52-year-old merchant said.

Modi would also like to convince Indians to open their family vaults, which hold an estimated 17,000 tonnes of gold in jewellery and other heirlooms. But it will be much harder to convince Indian families, who sometimes have little faith in financial institutions, to break tradition and hand over gold passed down the generations. India's love affair with gold spans centuries and is rooted in the Hindu religion. One of the biggest annual buying seasons is the Diwali festival around October to November. Gold marriage dowries are widespread and with 70 percent of the population rural, gold is financial security.