SGPC seeks grace period for exchange of old notes

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 17

In the wake of the demonetisation of Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes, the SGPC has approached Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to seek the extension of the money conversion deadline.

The SGPC is facing difficulty in managing its golak money and donations. The 50-day period granted by the government to convert the old currency is not sufficient for the SGPC to replace the old currency notes received at the Golden Temple as donation.

An official said the SGPC had been advising devotees to adopt the online course for donation. It has been learnt that a donation of Rs9 lakh by a Chandigarh-based devotee meant for the langar hall had to be returned because the cash contained the scrapped currency. Sources said the denomitisation had also affected the booking of inns.

The SGPC had already issued a circular to all its offices, gurdwaras and institutes against accepting denomitised notes. Though there could be no check on the money offered in golak, since November 9, the karah and pinni counters in the Golden Temple were told not to accept denomitised notes. The Golden Temple is visited by over 80,000 devotees daily and donations amount to several lakhs.

SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar convened a special executive body meeting to take stock of the situation.

SGPC additional secretary Diljit Singh said Badungar was apprised of problems in managing the donation money. “The SGPC president had a telephonic conversation with the Union Finance Minister and urged him to extend special immunity to religious institutions. It is cumbersome to convert banned notes received through golak,” he said.

the Golden Temple golak is being opened on alternate days in the presence of designated SGPC staffers. They prepare list of details of the currency before informing bank officials to get the amount deposited.