Nashik: At Shirdi Saibaba temple, lakhs of rupees are collected in coins, and due to this, the trust of the temple is facing problems as the bank is unable to find enough space to accommodate the coins.

The trust has bank accounts in 13 different branches of state-owned banks, and among them, a few are in the town where the temple is situated and one is in Nashik. At present, all the accounts hold Rs 11 crore in SSST money in coins, and after all the issues, the trust has written directly to the RBI seeking its intervention.

The Chief Executive Officer of the trust, Rahul Jadhav said, “Officials of these four banks said they have no space to keep the coins they get every day. This is a big problem for the trust.”

He added, “Simultaneously, we have decided to approach banks in other parts of Ahmednagar district as well as the state to help us. We will open accounts of the trust in such banks so that the coins can be deposited there.”

The SSST official said, “The temple’s coin problem has resurfaced with the Covid pandemic loosening its grip. The temple’s average daily footfall is over 50,000, and coins have started accumulating. Apart from the four banks, which have stopped the collection of coins, some of the remaining banks also have requested us to resolve this problem as they too are facing a space crunch.”

Reply to this Bank said, “My branch has coins amounting to about Rs 1.6 crore. Another bank in Shirdi has coins worth Rs 3 crore. In one of the banks, the coin bags are kept outside the strongroom since the room is completely stacked with coin bags.”

The monthly collection of coins in denominations ranging from 50 paise to Rs 10 is close to Rs 28 lakh. Every month, each bank where the trust maintains an account sends workers to the temple to collect donations and deposits.

Banks addressed the problem with the SSST in 2019, claiming that sacks of coins were taking up too much room in bank locations. At the time, the trust provided the banks with storage chambers on the temple grounds. However, the banks turned down the offer, claiming that the rules prohibited such a deal.

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