Shirdi's Sai temple receives Rs 2.28 crore in defunct notes

The famous Shirdi Saibaba temple has received Rs 2.28 crore from devotees in its cash boxes in the form of defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes since the announcement of demonetisation, the temple management said today.
Following the Income Tax department's instructions, the Shree Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST) stopped depositing these defunct notes in the bank since November 24.
The temple received a whopping Rs 1.57 crore in old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in the cash boxes between November 8 and November 24, said Bajirao Shinde, executive officer of SSST.
Since November 8, SSST had stopped accepting donations in defunct notes at its donation counters, however the devotees continued to put old notes in the cash-boxes.

On November 24, SSST received a letter from the Income Tax department, asking it not to deposit the defunct notes in the bank any further, said Shinde. The SSST then pasted instructions on all the cash boxes, asking people not to put the defunct notes.
However, the people still dropped old notes in the boxes and SSST received another Rs 71 lakhs in defunct notes, which have been kept in the temple's treasury, Shinde said.
The temple is awaiting instructions from the IT department on how to deal with this cash, the official added.