Kanpur ‘Gold man’ won’t yield to govt order on limited holding of yellow metal
The ‘Gold Man’ of Kanpur Manoj Sengar wears about 4kg of gold jewellery but refuses to disclose the total quantity of gold he possesses.
The government’s clarification last week that there is no limit on legitimate holding of gold and jewellery, including from inheritance, has not convinced the ‘gold man’ man of Kanpur, Manoj Sengar.

On Thursday, the government had also clarified that would be no seizure of bullion up to a certain limit even if that does not seem to match income. But Sengar who loves to wear gold and flaunt it unabashedly, seems to be a casualty of rumours of an impending government crackdown on gold holdings.
“Every citizen is bound to respect the government and its decision but what is next – a limit on sneezing and coughing?” asks Sengar, who wears gold chains weighing kilos, bracelets, a gold belt to support white trousers and shoes made of silver.
He wears about 4kg of gold jewellery but refuses to disclose the total quantity of gold he possesses.
Ask him about the source of gold, and he laughs away the query. “Sab baap dada kaa diya hai (All my gold is ancestral and inherited). I didn’t sell the family gold and preserved it,” he says.
“If the government asks for the receipts, I will have to go up (heaven) there to ask my forefathers how they got their gold,” he breaks out in laughter.
Sengar who is in his late 40s, is miffed with the finance ministry’s statement that jewellery and ornaments to the extent of 500gm for married lady, 250gm for unmarried lady and 100gm for male member would not be seized, even if prima facie, it does not seem to be matching with the income record of the assessee.
“Don’t men have the right to be obsessed with gold? Why should their holding limit be any different from that for women?” he asks.
A jewellery store owner, Sengar has been wearing gold since his college days and his obsession with the precious metal kept growing, and in his words, it would go with him.
Such is his love for gold that he asked his son to run his jewellery store instead of taking up a job or some other business. “I just visit the jewellery store and keep looking at gold. I do not deal with customers,” he says.
Sengar, the city convener of Kshatriya Mahasabha, was recently in news when he visited the survivors of Indore-Patna Express train accident at Kanpur’s LLR Hospital and provided them food, drinks and medicines.
Despite the occasion being a tragic one, Sengar thought it was normal to walk into the hospital wearing gold which left everybody surprised.
“I spent eight hours to explain to them it was my dream. People have different aspirations. Some want to own Mercedes, Bentley and other big cars. I chose gold,” he says.
The day after news broke that the government may impose curbs on domestic holdings of gold as part of the fight against black money, Sengar sat down with the newspaper, reading the news item word by word.
He then wrote a couplet giving a spin to an original from Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas – ‘Jaahi vidhi rakhe Modi ji taahi vidhi rahiye, Modi ji ki baat maan haani-laabh sahiye’ (Live the way Modiji wants you to, follow his words and bear with the profit or loss).