Lord Jagannath’s Funds To Be Retrieved From Yes Bank Tomorrow: SJTA

Puri: In what could be termed as a much needed respite for the Jagannath devotees across the world, all the fixed deposits of Rs 545 crore of Lord Jagannath deposited in Yes Bank will be retrieved tomorrow from the cash strapped bank after it resumes full banking services from 6 pm today onwards, informed Ajay Kumar Jena, Development Administrator of Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).

In a press briefing, Jena, after budget meeting of Srimandir today said that though there were two separate fixed deposits of Rs 389 crore and Rs 156 crore parked in Yes Bank, the total deposit of Rs 545 crore will be transferred from Yes Bank to UCO bank main branch in the pilgrim town of Puri through e-transfer on Thursday.

Also Read: Plea In OHRC Seeking Probe Into Parking Of Srimandir Funds In Yes Bank

 “A part of the fixed deposits will be maturing tomorrow. During the meeting, it was decided that all amount of Lord Jagannath will be withdrawn from Yes Bank and deposited in a Nationalised Bank.”

All the deposited amount of Rs 545 crore of Lord Jagannath will be retrieved from the #YesBank tomorrow after it resumes full banking services from 6 pm today onwards, clarifies SJTA administrator (development) Ajay Kumar Jena pic.twitter.com/V80K8MI3pG

— OTV (@otvnews) March 18, 2020

However, as per the reports, the discussion on Srimandir’s budget could not go forward, as servitors and other members complained that they were not informed on the agenda of the meeting days before. Jena said that the budget meeting will once again be held on a later date.

Notably, the controversy surrounding Srimandir funds being parked with Yes Bank which was gradually subsiding after the Odisha government announced to transfer the deposits to a nationalised bank in February 2020, suddenly erupted out of proportion after Reserve Bank Of India placed the cash strapped bank under Central Government’s Moratorium.

Also Read: Odisha Govt Washes Off Hands Over Issue Of Srimandir Funds In Yes Bank

However, after some days of speculation, in one of the biggest rescue operations of a private sector commercial bank in the country, the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) acted promptly to bring in SBI as an 'investor' for the troubled YES Bank.

Earlier, a team of BJD MPs led by Prasanna Acharya met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss about the funds belonging to Puri Srimandir deposited in crisis-hit Yes Bank. In response, the Union Minister had assured that Srimandir funds were safe.