BHUBANESWAR: Amidst growing concern over the deposit of Rs 545 crore Jagannath temple fund in YES bank, the State Government on Sunday requested Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to issue necessary instructions to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow release of the money.
“Various funds related to the temple, foundation and corpus are being managed by the Managing Committee of the Jagannath temple. Out of these funds, Rs 545 crore has been deposited with YES Bank, Puri in the shape of TDRs,” Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari said in a letter to Sitharaman. Stating that these deposits mature in March, 2020, Pujari said, “In the meantime, YES Bank has been placed under moratorium by the RBI and certain restrictions have been imposed on withdrawal of funds from the bank.”
Pujari said the administration, governance and management of the temple and its properties are vested in the Managing Committee by virtue of provisions contained in the Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1954. He said on the basis of discussion in the Managing Committee, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) manages the day-to-day affairs of the shrine. He said, “The SJTA is a statutory authority working under provisions of an Act of the State Government. This is an issue of religious importance for devotees of Lord Jagannath.”