Yes Bank crisis may jeopardise ISKCON's mid-day meal programme

A senior ISKCON official on Wednesday said the Yes Bank crisis may adversely affect mid- day meals of lakhs of underprivileged children who are fed by the organisation through its "Annamrita" wing.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness and the "Annamrita" have at least 38 accounts across the country with the Yes Bank which has been placed under a moratorium on March 5, with the RBI capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month, ISKCON Kolkata Vice-President Radharamn Das said on Wednesday.

"Around 12,500 underprivileged children of Kolkata are benefitted from Annamrita managed by the ISKCON Kolkata alone, while the figure is around 12 lakh across the country. We are anxious about the development," Das said.

The organisation's Kolkata unit has two accounts with the Yes Bank - one for the temple and the other of Annamrita, he said.

More than Rs 2 crore is linked to the Annamrita account in Kolkata, the ISKCON official said.

If the problem is not resolved soon, the Annamrita programme will come under severe stress due to the shortage of liquid funds, he said.

"We are now managing from other sources as this is a major programme and cannot be stopped. We will have to seek government intervention if the moratorium does not get lifted soon," Das said.