Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Saturday said that his government would strongly oppose any move to deposit temple treasures in banks to make up for the country’s trade imbalance.
Reacting to reports in this regard, he said the state would not allow the riches of Kerala temples to be deposited in banks under a government order. “It could only be a speculative report. I don’t think the Centre would come out with such a policy. Even if it unveils such a scheme, we will not allow to touch the invaluable jewels of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple or any other places of worship without the consent of the devotees and temples,” he said.
Media reports have said that the government may be looking at monetizing the vast gold resources of temples like Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple to cut down the current account deficit on account of high gold imports. The budget for the current fiscal contains a proposal for monetizing a part of an estimated 20,000 tonnes of gold in India which is neither traded nor monetized.