YES Bank Crisis: SJTA Head Urges RBI To Transfer Jagannath Temple Funds To UCO Bank

Bhubaneswar: Amid rising concern over losing Rs 545 crore Jaganath Temple funds deposited in crisis-hit Yes Bank, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Krishan Kumar has urged the RBI’s Regional Director to issue necessary directions to management of the private bank for crediting all investments along with interest dues to SJTA’s UCO Bank account.

In the letter dated March 7, 2020, Kumar said that an amount of Rs 545 crore was deposited by the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee in YES Bank, Puri in shape of TDRs (fixed deposits) and these deposits were maturing in the month of March, 2020, itself.  “The Managing Committee had taken a decision for withdrawal of all the deposits from Yes bank after their maturity and keep the same in a nationalized bank,” he mentioned in the letter.

On February 6, the chief administrator had issued a press briefing stating that the temple funds kept in YES Bank will now be kept in nationalized banks.

However, the RBI on Thursday imposed a moratorium on the private bank and certain restrictions on withdrawal of funds, raising concerns over the fate of these deposits.

“Donations collected over decades from millions of devotees have been kept in the bank and this is an issue of religious importance for devotees of Lord Jagannath. In this background, I request RBI to issue necessary directions to management of Yes Bank for crediting all investments along with interest dues, immediately, in the UCO account of SJTA,” he added.

On February 25, Law Minister Pratap Jena had informed the Assembly that the funds amounting to Rs 545 crore will be transferred to a nationalized bank by March 30. In a written reply, the minister informed that the total temple funds amounted to Rs 626,44,78,444. Of this, Rs 592 crore was kept in YES Bank — Rs 545 crore in fixed deposit and Rs 47 crore in a Flexi account — till September 30, 2019. While the money kept in the Flexi account has been withdrawn, the remaining Rs 545 crore will be transferred to a nationalized bank in two phases on March 19 and 30, he had added.