Allow Puri Jagannath Temple to withdraw funds from Yes Bank: Odisha FM writes to Sitharaman

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Bhubaneswar (Odisha): Odisha Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari has written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting her to issue instructions to RBI to allow Puri Jagannath Temple administration to withdraw the temple`s fund of Rs 545 crore from the crisis-hit Yes Bank.

"The administration, governance and management of the Jagannath Temple in Puri and its properties are vested in a committee called Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (MC) by virtue of provisions contained in the Shree Jagannath Temple Act, 1954. On the basis of discussion of the Managing Committee, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) manages the day to day affairs of the shrine," Pujari wrote to the Union Finance Minister.

"Various funds related to the temple - Foundation Fund, Corpus Fund and Temple Fund - are being managed by the Managing Committee. Out of these funds, an amount of Rs 545 crore has been deposited with Yes Bank, Puri. These deposits are maturing in the month of March of 2020 itself," he added.

The Odisha Finance Minister further added, "In this background, I request you to kindly issue necessary instruction to RBI to allow the release of deposits relating to SJTA in Yes Bank in the interest of millions of devotees of Lord Jagannath."

Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had said that a moratorium has been imposed on Yes Bank, stressing that the bank`s financial capability has undergone a steady decline largely due to the inability of the bank to raise capital.

During the period of moratorium, the Yes Bank Ltd will not, without the permission in writing of the RBI, make payment to a depositor of a sum exceeding Rs 50,000 lying to his credit in any savings, current or any other deposit account.