Pathikrit.CharabortyLucknow: The Special Investigation Team has raised serious concerns over the role of the State Bank of India, noting that the bank failed to discharge several key responsibilities assigned to it under the operational framework governing the donation counting process at the Ram temple.According to the SIT report, the MoU and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) entrusted SBI with a role that extended far beyond merely accepting the cash after counting. The bank was responsible for supervising the counting process, ensuring the availability and proper functioning of currency counting machines, monitoring personnel deployed for counting, enforcing security protocols and ensuring strict compliance with the prescribed SOPs.However, investigators found that these responsibilities were not effectively discharged. The SIT found that several safeguards envisaged under the SOPs were either not implemented or inadequately enforced, resulting in procedural lapses that weakened transparency and accountability in the handling of devotees’ offerings.The report notes that the failure to enforce the prescribed protocols diluted the system of checks and balances designed to safeguard the integrity of the donation management process. Investigators concluded that the bank’s inability to ensure compliance with the agreed procedures contributed significantly to the systemic deficiencies identified during the probe.Sources said the investigation is now expected to widen, with Ayodhya Police preparing to question both SBI officials associated with the donation management process and the outsourced personnel engaged by the bank for cash counting. Investigators are expected to examine whether they adhered to the MoU and SOPs, whether mandatory supervision was exercised, and if any deviations from the prescribed procedures were overlooked or deliberately ignored.The questioning is also likely to focus on the deployment of outsourced staff, the supervision exercised by bank representatives during counting, the operation of currency counting machines, maintenance of records and compliance with security protocols laid down under the agreement between the temple authorities and the bank.Meanwhile, sources said, discussions are underway at the administrative level over whether the mandate for handling the Ram temple’s donation counting and banking operations should continue with SBI or be entrusted to another bank. According to sources, authorities are examining various options to strengthen oversight and plug procedural loopholes identified by the SIT, though no final decision has been taken so far.
