'Won’t quit, Ayodhya Ram temple donation theft due to SBI laxity': Trust treasurer

PUNE: Swami Govinddev Giri Maharaj on Tuesday said he would not step down as treasurer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra Trust following the donation theft case and said State Bank of India (SBI) officials responsible for streamlining the temple’s collections should have flagged the alleged embezzlement.Giri Maharaj spoke about the memorandum of understanding between the temple trust and SBI.He said, “The temple trustees come from spiritual backgrounds, with no knowledge of financial discipline. However, the bank officials appointed to streamline the temple collection are not spiritual preachers, but finance experts. They should have pointed out the possibility of theft of donations.”The trust’s general secretary Champat Rai resigned recently after the case of alleged donation embezzlement came to light.