Shirdi received Rs 2.84 crore in scrapped notes till November 24

Demonetised notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 have continued to make way into the donation boxes of the Shirdi Saibaba Temple, despite appeals by the trust against such donations. The temple received Rs 2.84 crore in such currencies from November 8 to 24.
Also, after the Income Tax department’s order to stop depositing demonetised notes, around Rs 75 lakh is lying in the trust’s locker.
According to the figures provided by the trust, the temple received donations of Rs 9.50 crore, including demonetised notes, till November 24, post demonetisation.
“On November 24, the trust appealed to devotees against donating the scrapped currency notes, but such donations continued. The value of such notes was Rs 75 lakh till Monday,” said Sachin Tambe, a temple trustee.
The I-T department had directed the trust to clarify the number of old notes they received from November 8 onwards. “As per the directives, the accounts department made all necessary clarifications to the I-T department. We received Rs 1,000 notes worth Rs 1.27 crore while Rs 500 notes worth Rs 1.57 crore till November 24,” he added.
A senior official in the accounts department of the temple said that receiving Rs 9 crore in donation in 25 days is nothing new. “The issue here is increased volume of the scrapped Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. We do not have any record of currency denominations donated in the past, but I am sure the number is more or less similar to what the trust used to receive,” he said.
The temple trust started counting donations on a daily basis since November 15. Trust officials also claimed that the electronic mode of money transfer increased threefold after demonetisation.
“Devotees are using credit/debit cards, demand drafts and cheques. Earlier, the temple used to get around Rs 2 lakh per day through electronic transfer. This amount has increased to Rs 6 lakh. Donations through cheques and DDs also registered a three-fold increase, from Rs 20,000 per day to Rs 65,000 per day,” said Mohan Yadav, official spokesperson of the temple trust .