TDB to keep gold in banks to overcome its financial crisis

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], May 28 : Travancore Devaswam Board (TDB) president N Vasu on Thursday said that TDB will keep gold in banks to overcome the financial crisis it is faced with, due to closure of temples in the backdrop of coronavirus induced lockdown.
"Due to coronavirus-induced lockdown, temples were closed for the past 2 months which caused a financial loss of over Rs. 400 crore. TDB will keep gold in banks to overcome its financial crisis," said N Vasu.
Talking to ANI, Vasu said famous Sabarimala temple alone has a minimum of Rs. 100 crore loss.
"We have around 1250 temples from Thiruvananthapuram to Ernakulam districts. Due to the closing of Sabarimala temple alone the estimated loss is Rs. 100 crore. Another Rs 100 crores loss from non-auction of shops in Sabarimala. And due to the closing of other temples, the loss comes about another 200 crores. This accounts for a total estimated loss of over Rs. 400 crores. According to the central government's scheme, we can put gold in the bank at an interest of 2.5 percent. So we thought it is better to keep gold like coins, bars etc in the bank," he said
"Gold items are of two types. Regarding the first item that will be in day-today use of diety and other items were used on some occasions, adorned in festival seasons etc. But several other items like gold coins, gold bars etc need not be used in the temple. It is not in the use of the diety. Keeping the gold in our strong rooms is a tough task and also we are spending a lot of money in the way of security also. So we thought it better to keep this gold with the bank and obtain the interest. This is being done in Guruvayoor for the past ten years and they are getting Rs. 10.5 crores by way of interest. So we also think of investing such a scheme," he added.
Vasu informed that TDB appointed a committee consisting of some experienced retired officers to look into the financial position of the board.
"We asked them to suggest some recommendations for improving our financial position. Also, we asked them whether any expenditure can be avoided, or for this purpose, we have to minimize our expenditure. The committee has submitted their report and these recommendations are part of their report." he said.
Vasu said that devotees used to offer bronze items such as in the form of traditional lamps in large numbers in the temples.
"We have an accumulated quantity of bronze and gold items in all the temples. As temples do not have that much facility to store all these items. So it is stored in an unsafe manner. These items almost become a liability to us, we don't have an adequate storage place. So we took a decision to take the stock of all these items and sell in the auction. For this purpose in 2012 itself, we have obtained the permission of High court. But it stopped due to the opposition from the part of some organizations," he said.
"Now as soon as this board assumed the office we took the decision to dispose of these items. As part of these, we issued notice to the Thiruvabharana commission and to the Deputy Commissioners to take stock of the items. That process is going on. So once the stock position is clear we will inform the High Court and with the notice of High court we will auction it," he added.
The TDB is an autonomous body formed as per the Travancore Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act of 1950 and manages all the Hindu temples in Kerala.