Chamundi temple hundi still has demonetised notes worth Rs 3.3 lakh

Rs 1.26 crore in banned notes donated after Nov 8, 2016

The Chamundeshwari temple atop Chamundi Hill still has Rs 3.3 lakh in demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

The temple had received an approximate Rs 1.26 crore in the banned currency notes after demonetisation was announced in November.

The temple authorities managed to exchange Rs 1.23 crore, but the banks are declining to accept the remaining Rs 3.3 lakh collected between December 2016 and March 2017 in the temple hundis (donation boxes). As the deadline for exchanging the banned currency notes ended, the banks are not accepting them, temple authorities said.

Though December 31, 2016, was the deadline for remitting the banned notes with the banks, the authorities found the demonetised currency during the counting process by end of March. The temple authorities have approached the authorities seeking exchange of the banned notes with legal currency. Though CCTV cameras are fixed inside the temple, a few devotees managed to donate money through the banned notes.

The temple has an account with Canara Bank, Nazarbad branch in the city and the bank authorities do the counting process for the temple. “We found Rs 3.3 lakh in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in 18 hundis,” temple executive officer Nanjundaiah said.

Three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scrapping of notes on November 8, 2016, the temple authorities took up counting of currency and found 5,840 notes of Rs 500 and 906 notes of Rs 1,000 in the hundis and all the notes were exchanged without any difficulty.

The temple receives crores of rupees as donation in various forms. Donations collected in the hundis top the list.

The officer said they have written a letter to the Endowment department commissioner, seeking suggestions to exchange the banned notes with legal currency.