Silchar: A temple in southern Assam’s Hailakandi district is in a spot of bother as it has not been able to find anyone to exchange around Rs 11 lakh in coins that it has received from devotees and visitors over the years.
The Siddheshwar Shib Mandir in Thandapur, Panchgram, is one of the oldest shrines in Barak Valley. It is around 25 km from Silchar town.
Sujan Bhattacharjee, temple management committee secretary, said the management committee has approached local businessmen and banks, but no one is willing to accept so many coins and give them high-value currencies in return.
“The temple has been receiving coins from devotees for many years. The committee has nearly Rs 11 lakh in coins but we are not able to find anyone to exchange these coins for high-value currency notes,” Bhattacharjee said.
He further said, “The committee has already given Rs 1 lakh in coins to a person Rajesh Das on a condition that Das will give the committee Rs 3,000 per month in high-value currencies.”` However, the committee is worried about the remaining money as they are unable to find anyone with whom they can exchange the coins for high-value currency notes.
The money can be used in the temple’s development if the coins are exchanged, he added.
Another member said that though coins are a legal tender, but nobody wants to accept coins these days. “The government has not banned coins, still these are unofficially banned,” the member said.
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An official of a bank in Hailakandi district said that banks cannot refuse to accept coins, but a cash handling charge will be taken in case of exchange of coins to high-value currency notes.
The temple management committee has appealed to the public to come forward and help them exchange the coins for high-value currency notes so that the money can be used in the temple’s development.
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