The flying squad of the Election Commission seized 1,381 kgs of gold in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. The gold is found to be belonging to the country’s premier Tirumala Lord Balaji temple.
Election flying force officers were engaged in vehicle testing in the Veppampattu check office in Chennai. Two minivans were parked and when checked, boxes full of gold were found.
However, 1,381 kg of gold was seized by the election commissioners due to lack of relevant documents. The gold was handed over at Poonamalai police station with the vehicle. The investigation is ongoing with four people on the van. The value of the confiscated gold is estimated at over Rs.450 crore[1].
Elections are coming into force across the country since the Election Code of Conduct came into effect. So far, Rs 2628.43 crore has been confiscated and goods have been seized by the flying force across the country.
The gold was deposited in Punjab National Bank for three years. A letter was written by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) officials to the PNB officials for the release of the gold three weeks ago after the period expired.
PNB officials left for Chennai from Tirupati to get the seized gold released as per the letter equipped from TTD.
As per the temple authorities, a total of 8,500 kgs of gold has been deposited by TTD in several nationalised banks including State Bank of India, Andhra Bank, PNB and India Overseas Bank.
The Punjab National Bank officials from Tirupati were coordinating with the Tiruvallur district officials after EC cleared the gold. The temple officials expect the gold to reach Tirupati by Thursday, a TTD official clarified[2].
“The TTD had written to the PNB officials for the restoration of the gold in the temple treasury” asserted TTD executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal to the media persons in Tirumala. “However, the TTD has not received any letter from the PNB officials about bringing of the gold back to Tirumala.”
The country’s richest Balaji temple is being managed by the TTD trust board. Under gold monetisation scheme, the trust has been depositing the gold in several banks for the last few years for interest.
As per the temple authorities, a total of 8,500 kgs of gold has been deposited by TTD in several nationalised banks including State Bank of India, Andhra Bank, PNB and India Overseas Bank.
The highest interest is paid by PNB which is 1.75 per cent in the form of gold while the other banks pay between 1.25 and 1.5 per cent.
References:
[1] சென்னையில் 1,381 கிலோ தங்கம் பறிமுதல்.. தேர்தல் பறக்கும் படையினர் அதிரடி April 17, 2019, Times Now
[2] 1381 kg gold seized by Election Commission belongs to Tirupati Balaji Temple: Officials April 17, 2019, Mumbai Mirror
- Supreme Court rejects plea to tally all VVPAT slips with EVM votes; says ‘no going back to paper ballot’ - April 26, 2024
- US report citing human rights violations is deeply biased: India - April 25, 2024
- Kotak Mahindra Bank shares tank 13%. Market Cap erodes by Rs.37,721 cr post-RBI action - April 25, 2024
this storey- for me- it exposes the inefficiency of our micro accounting systems- the extreme lax of regulatory oversight- it is mind boggling – gold bars are travelling without authorized paperwork and the authorities finally identified whose it belongs to.
and the gold was parked along the side of the road- and exposed when the investigators by accident focused on the suspicious parked cars.
if it was not discovered- what would have happened to the gold?
where is the tracking mechanism? RBI -assume tracks physical gold movements?
this time the gold bullion was identified the temple.
moving gold in a ordinary van- not armored vehicle with armored personnel?
and these are idle assets- not working efficiently- interest earned for the temple authorities is much less for very short terms. banks cannot do much with it because it too short- so it sits in the bank vaults.
I guess- there must be billions of indian rupees- classified as idle assets- imagine that a way found to unleash its potential interest earnings- acknowledging the temple expectations/needs/requirements/restrictions/regulatory limits and leveraging of those idle assets for the good of the communities- immediate and at large- risks applied are not speculative. But in the indian context speculation enters into the equation?-greed?, corrupt payouts in that equation/system.
my limited experience- corruption runs through the department where allegedly blessed sweets are given away free daily between specific times- delivery guy at the booth puts a cost- and you- a devotee- pay it or
you go without- it is suppose to be free to devotees- and I am talking about a rich,rich temple;
corruption- it runs all the way to the top of the system- my guess.
how do we rid of corruption in daily living? when it is a part of your DNA- openly practiced and accepted- it may take generations- there are 2 parts- giver and the taker; it is a extremely difficult.
no answers- lots of questions- that weakness- in any economic activity is slowly killing india’s
edge over say china- there is corruption rampant in china- you do not hear about it because it is a communist country- but when businesses and individuals are caught- the chinese system makes it known of the punishment to deter corruption at any level.
we are a democracy -it is messy system- we constantly have to clean the systems- make it more efficient and clean. it is on going vigilance – no other way- so we constantly have to seek a edge- at every level of economic activity;
the killer for us- as I see it- it raises its ugly head at every level of economic activity of daily living- it is a given, or you sense it, how to go around it, hidden cost- you have control or not?, whether to accept and move on or bring it up and resist/confront;
it would be very interesting- research on this vast area – behavior peculiar to india- at various levels of economic activity of daily living- across all india- it would be revelation- where we see ourselves in that mirror- who we truly are in that peculiar area of corruption.
it is costing india billions of rupees- it is real cost- politics matters and it costs -man woman and child;
VOTING RESPONSIBLE POLITICIAN WHO WOULD SERVE THE COMMUNITY, STATE, NATION MATTERS- YOU ARE PAYING FOR IT. IT IS TRUE COST. MAKE POLITICIANS PAY FOR THEIR MISTAKES OR YOU WILL.
POLITICIANS- I MEAN- ANYONE IN A POSITION OF POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE/OUTCOME- GOOD OR BAD- SO I INCLUDE UNELECTED BUREAUCRATS;
Even the properties of God are not safe in secular India where the income of temple is usurped by the relative state govts to be distributed to appeasing of votes
Why TTD has to hoard gold ?? It should be with Reserve Bank of India.God does not require gold… God requires only the true devotion from the devotees
Dr Swamy has time and again said Italian Sonia smuggles the gold and artifacts out of the country with help of evil, vile bloodthirsty church and NCBN is hands in gloves with her as crumbs are thrown at him.TILL THIS ITALIAN FAMILY IS ALIVE INDIA is doomed.TIME NATIVE INDIANS USE BULLETS AND NOT SLEEP, EACH AND EVERY FIRANGI (INCLUDING BASTDS PAKIPANJABIS AND WHITE BANGALIS and thes Syrians, Portuguese etc) .All newly independent countries butcherd or deported the bstds of White evil thugs while India welcomed them