Bill moved to manage gold donated in Himachal temples
By IANSThursday, April 8, 2010
SHIMLA - The Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2010, was brought in the state assembly Friday to better manage the yellow metal donated by devotees.
Intoducing the bill, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said: “Suitable provisions should be made in the act for melting and disposal of gold and silver lying idle in the stock of temple trusts in a transparent manner.”
“Ten percent of gold should be used for various activities related to temples, 20 percent should be invested in the State Bank of India’s ‘Gold Bond Scheme’ and 70 percent should be kept reserved in the temples. For silver, 60 percent of the total offering should be converted into coins and should be sold to the devotees,” the bill said.
Himachal Pradesh has at least 13 multi-millionaire temples which have a huge accumulation of gold.
The temples include Chintpurni in Una district, Naina Devi in Bilaspur district, Jawalamukhi, Chamunda Devi and Brajeshwari Devi in Kangra district, Baba Balakhnath in Hamirpur and Bhimakali and Hateshwari in Shimla district.
