Lapses that allowed donations theft to continue at Ram Temple

SOP Said Those Involved In Counting Should Be Wearing Pocketless ClothesLucknow: From flagrant violation of SOPs to weak supervision of donation counting procedures, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up CM Yogi Adityanath has found found a series of lapses that allowed the accused persons to siphon off the donation money without any check.The SIT submitted its preliminary report to additional chief secretary, home, Sanjay Prasad on June 23.Sources said preliminary scrutiny of CCTV footage from the temple’s donation counting room revealed suspicious instances where bundles of cash were allegedly handed over to specific individuals instead of being deposited at designated collection points as mandated under the prescribed protocol.Also, the footage were automatically deleted after 45 days, which proved to be a hindrance during scrutiny.The preliminary report has raised questions over the functioning of the State Bank of India, which is entrusted with handling and safeguarding temple donations.The SIT also found inadequate frisking of workers while entering and leaving duty, with no proper system to verify what employees were carrying in or taking out of the premises.According to sources, personnel from the private security agency SIS conduct frisking and security checks of counting staff before they enter the donation counting room whereas this should be done by a more professional security agency or police.

Sources said that deployment of additional police personnel or any specialised security unit has also been recommended.CCTV monitoring also came under scrutiny during the investigation. Sources claimed that employees could allegedly stand in front of cameras before carrying out thefts, indicating lapses in surveillance and monitoring.During the investigation, the SIT examined records related to gold, silver ornaments, precious stones and other valuables offered by devotees.

Temple sources claimed investigators found discrepancies in documentation and accounting of such offerings.Talking to TOI recently the temple’s construction committee chief Nripendra Misra had also critised the handling of the bank. “Surprisingly, the bank surrendered the entire counting to the 44 employees, who all were outsourced,” Misra told TOI. He also mentioned that the MoU signed with the bank clearly mentioned those involved in the counting process should not be wearing clothes that have pockets, but that was not followed.Misra flagged that detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) existed but were completely ignored, creating a weak oversight environment that allowed embezzlement to take place. He highlighted several systematic failures and deep procedural lapses within the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust’s cash-handling operations:Total Lack of Written Directives: Workers operated primarily on informal verbal instructions.

There were no written orders outlining exact operational roles.No Fixed Individual Accountability: Responsibilities among the cash-handling and 44-member cash-counting staff were never fixed or properly distributed.Reliance on an Informal Volunteer System: An institution handling massive international and domestic public wealth was managed loosely through unvouched, informal volunteer networks.Violation of Transparency and Audit Rules: Strict internal audit checkpoints and cash-safeguarding procedures were routinely bypassed.Weak Supervision Over Precious Valuables: The informal practices led to critical discrepancies in documenting physical offerings like gold, silver, diamonds, and precious stones.