Missing gold pots
Missing gold pots: The details in the report, “769 gold pots missing from Kerala temple vaults, SC told” (Aug.15), is indicative of the helplessness of even top officials such as Vinod Rai in eliciting relevant information...
Missing gold pots
The details in the report, “769 gold pots missing from Kerala temple vaults, SC told” (TheHindu, Aug.15), is indicative of the helplessness of even top officials such as Vinod Rai in eliciting relevant information from ‘institutions’ like the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. Temples and religious bodies receive funds and offerings in kind from the public. Therefore, it is intriguing that governments of all denominations find it difficult to enforce transparency in accounting for the assets and liabilities of such organisations. Kerala can play a lead role in bringing transparency in the working — at least to the extent of keeping a record of accumulated assets, if not sources and uses of funds — of temples, religious bodies and organisations receiving donations higher than a threshold limit annually. As far as the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is concerned, one hopes that the Supreme Court will prioritise and resolve the mystery surrounding the missing gold by insisting on a comprehensive inventory of all items in every vault.
M.G. Warrier,
Mumbai
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