Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Dec 2: A year is over since the demonetisation came into effect. However, the offering of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes is still continuing in most of the temples. So far Rs 10 crore worth old notes, offered by the devotees, have been found in the donation boxes of temples throughout the state.

This Rs 10 crore amount is that of the temples that come under the control of Muzrai department only. The state government has approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in order to get this amount exchanged into legal currency. RBI has not responded to a letter written by the Muzrai department in this regard. The state government which is not happy by the apathy shown by the RBI is in a dilemma as to how to legalize this money.

The intelligent devotees have washed off their sins by donating bundles of the banned notes. However, a situation has arisen where the God has to take care of his money. An amount of Rs 77 lac, consisting of the banned Rs 500 and 1000 notes, was found in donation boxes of famous 11 temples of the state. This figure is given by the Muzrai department, which broke open the donation boxes of all the temples that come under its control.

Padmanabha Kotian, member of the Karnataka Rajya Dharmika Parishat, says, "Banned notes of Rs 500 and 1000 are still being offered by the devotees to the temples. We have not received any response from RBI with regards to the legalization of these currency notes. The parishat had plans to renovate the temples by using this money. However, now do not know as to what should be done with this money, which is not legal anymore."