THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) is on a treasure hunt to relieve itself of severe cash crunch. TDB is cataloguing the gold and silver stocks lying idle at its temples, to monetise them.The board plans to deposit the gold in the Reserve Bank of India’s gold monetisation scheme while a decision on the silver stock is yet to be taken, TDB president N Vasu told TNIE. “We have taken an in-principle decision which has to be ratified by the High Court.
The inventorying will be completed within two months,” he said. Vasu said the exact volume of the gold and silver would be known only when the listing is complete. TNIE has learnt that there is a gold stock of around 1,000kg and silver almost double that quantity. The board would receive `12 crore per annum, approximately, when 1,000kg of gold is deposited in RBI’s long-term monetisation scheme, going by the gold price on Sunday.
Ornaments or utensils in gold and silver having ritualistic significance or those with antique value would be spared the monetisation plan, the TDB president said.“We are creating a database of all the precious metals and stones. The monetisation programme would cover the valuables submitted by devotees in the form of coins, ornaments and figurines. Many of our temples receive taali, figurines and the like in large numbers which are kept at the temples or regional strong rooms,” he said.
The monetisation scheme was more attractive on the security angle rather than the financial aspect, Vasu said. “It’s true that the 2.5 per cent interest on the bond will be a relief for the board as we are facing a big shortfall in revenue due to the Covid spread. But this exercise was planned much earlier owing to security concerns,” he said.
The board has also initiated steps to auction off unused lamps and wares at temples. “There is a huge stock of lamps and wares lying idle in temples. They would be auctioned off after the listing is completed,” he said.TDB, which owns 1,248 temples, has suffered losses worth `200 crore after the nationwide lockdown came into effect. Devotees have been denied entry since then, except for a brief period in June. The board requires `50 crore every month for salary and pension payments and towards establishment cost.