New Delhi: Four MPs of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Wednesday, met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking safe withdrawal of Lord Jagannath’s money deposited in
Yes Bank.
The BJD MPs said that the Finance minister has assured them that Lord’s money won’t be swindled. She also asked the MPs regarding the maturity date of the term deposit and said that whole amount, along with interest, will be paid to the deity. She also said, “The moratorium on withdrawal is going to be lifted soon and there won’t be any issue in respect to withdrawal.”
BJD MPs Prasanna Acharya, Amar Patnaik, Sasmit Patra and Achyuta Samanta met Sitharaman at her office in Parliament House and also handed her over a letter written by Odisha Finance minister Niranjan Pujari regarding the deity’s money deposited in Yes Bank.
It has been mentioned in the letter that an amount of Rs 545 crore has been deposited in Yes Bank, Puri in shape of TDRs. These deposits are maturing in March 2020.
In the meantime, Yes Bank Ltd has been placed under Moratorium by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and certain restrictions have been imposed by the RBI for withdrawal of funds from Yes Bank. The state finance minister has urged the Union Finance minister to issue necessary instructions to the RBI to allow release of deposits of SJTA in Yes Bank in the interest of millions of devotees of Lord Jagannath, Puri.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Suresh Pujari raised question over the intent of the state government behind depositing the Lord’s money in a private bank. He said that the state government must respond to people’s query as to why they (state govt) withdrew the money from a nationalised bank and deposited it in Yes Bank.
“We are waiting for the status report and we have been told that there is issue with the lending part only and the depositors’ money is completely safe,” said Pujari.