The Charity Commissioner's office in Maharashtra has asked the temple authorities at several popular pilgrimage centres to open donation boxes only in the presence of authorised personnel due to the apprehension that the cash could be used by black-money hoarders to get rid of their ill-gotten wealth.
The decision was also taken to avoid the inflow of unaccounted for currency notes through temple donations, a senior officer at the Charity Commissioner's office told PTI.
Temple managements have been asked to take "extreme precautions" while counting the cash in the donation box, he added.
The authorities fear that those hoarding huge amounts of money in cash could, in connivance with the temple officials, get their Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes replaced by currency notes of lower denominations donated to the temples.
"We want to avoid such misuse of temple donations," the officer said.
Kolhapur District Collector Amit Saini has appealed to the devotees to avoid making donations in demonetised currency notes. Kolhapur-based Mahalaxmi temple is one of the most popular temples in the state with an annual footfall of a million.
The Charity Commissioner's office at Aurangabad, the jurisdiction of which extends to Aurangabad, Jalna, Nanded, Parbhani and Hingoli districts, has issued such instructions to around 45 temples of which, 15 to 20 are located in Aurangabad city and district.
A director of the famous Saibaba shrine at Shirdi in Ahmednagar district said devotees have been instructed to avoid making donations in demonetised currency notes.
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