Prithviraj Chavan suggests govt should borrow gold from religious trusts, faces flak

Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan’s suggestion that the government should borrow gold lying with religious trusts in the country in the wake of financial crunch amid Covid-19 pandemic has stirred controversy as several organisations and temple trusts have strongly opposed the idea.

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Many blamed Chavan for targeting only Hindu trusts.

Chavan had, on Wednesday, tweeted, “Government must immediately appropriate all the gold lying with all the religious trusts in the country, worth at least $1trillion, according to the #WorldGoldCouncil. The gold can be borrowed through gold bonds at a low-interest rate. This is an emergency.” He said that it can be borrowed at the interest rate of 1-2% in the form of a loan. However, some did not like the idea.

Tushar Bhosale, joint convenor of Maharashtra BJP’s Spiritual Front, condemned Chavan for the concept coined by him. “If the Congress is so concerned about the financial condition of the country, it should first bring out the money usurped by the Congress leaders from scams during their rule,” he said.

Chavan on Thursday said that his idea was not a new one and that the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had actually introduced the gold monetisation schemes. “The Vajpayee government in 1999 introduced the gold deposit scheme (GDS) as an aftermath of economic sanctions after May 1998 Pokharan Atomic tests. The scheme was targeted at individuals and institutions asking them to deposit gold in the banks. On November 5, 2015, PM Narendra Modi’s government modified the GDS and introduced the gold monetisation scheme which still exists. According to a finance ministry report, 20,547 kg of gold has been mobilised by 2,952 entities between November 2015 and January 2020 under the scheme. Two temples from Maharashtra have deposited their gold with 11 banks,” he said.

Chavan said that both the schemes were introduced by BJP governments.

Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, a right-wing organisation, alleged it is a deceptive appeal to usurp gold from temples. “The idea commensurates with the Congress’s anti-Hindu policies over the past 70 years. The party looted ₹4.82 lakh crore in the form of scams. Congress leaders should return the public money. The churches in the country own most of the land after the defence and railway ministries. Wakf Board owns nearly 7 lakh acres of land. Will the Congress leaders demand to take over their lands,” Ramesh Shinde, national spokesperson of Samiti said.