The Deputy Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, announced that the manual counting of pilgrim donations at the Mata Vaishno Devi temple will be completely discontinued. He stated that the Shrine Board of Mata Vaishno Devi (SMVDSB) is taking important steps to modernize and streamline the process of handling pilgrim donations, under which the manual counting system will be completely abolished soon.
Discussing issues of transparency and efficiency in managing temple donations, Sinha noted that the proposal to abolish manual counting was put forward by one of the Council members during a meeting. During one event, the deputy governor (who is also the chairman of the SMVDSB) stated: 'There is much talk across the country about donations in temples. One respected member of the Council proposed at a meeting to stop the manual counting process. Therefore, two Cash Recycling Machines (CRM) have been installed, and the remaining CRMs will be installed within 15 days.'
He clarified that after the full implementation of the new system, Shrine Board employees or bank officials will not have direct involvement in processing and counting donations. Deputy Governor Manoj Sinha emphasized: 'This eliminates human intervention. No Council or bank employee will have a direct role in this.'
It was said that the goal of this step is to strengthen the institutional system for managing pilgrim donations and ensure that this process is carried out with greater transparency and accountability through a technological system. This issue came up amid a dispute over alleged theft of donations by employees who were counting in Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.