RBI asks temples to declare gold holdings

The Indian Government, saddled with twin deficits, has now turned to the Gods for help. It is perhaps with this intention that the Reserve Bank of India has sent notices to richest Indian temples to disclose their gold holdings. It is important to note here that gold is the second biggest imported item in the country after oil. Hence, high gold imports are a key culprit behind the record trade deficit. Now most of this gold is either hoarded or some part is donated to temples. As per the World Gold council report, the gold that lies with Indian temples is estimated at US$ 84 bn. Just to give you an idea, this is 56% higher than annual value of gold imports in FY13.

While the central bank is calling it a data collection exercise, the Hindu temples are in no mood to entertain. One may argue that the gold lying with the temples is unproductive and it will do the nation some good to bring it back into circulation. However, one must not forget that the Government has no right on this gold, unless the religious institutions volunteer. The mess that the economy is in these days is because of the rampant corruption and mismanagement of public funds by the Government. There is no guarantee that the temple gold will not be subject to the same kind of corruption and mismanagement. Instead of eyeing the temple's gold, the Government should perhaps put in efforts to bring back the black money that has been stashed abroad.