Temples in Telangana adopting digital ‘hundis’, going cashless

Hyderabad:  With tele transactions increasing at most of the religious places, digital hundis are on the upswing.  The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has recently announced that cashless transactions were picking up in Tirumala, be it for accommodation or other requirements.
In this context, Chief Secretary Dr S K Joshi on Thursday tweeted that it was important to make hundis cashless. Seeking suggestions, Dr. Joshi said, “Certain media reports have stated that cashless transactions are on the rise in the religious places. Now the challenge is to make the Hundis cashless while protecting the spirit of secret donations (gupt danam). It is important to achieve the goal. Suggestions are welcome.” Certain media reports have stated that cashless transactions are on the rise in the religious places. Now the challenge is to make the Hundis cashless while protecting the spirit of secret donations ( gupt danam). it is important to achieve the goal. Suggestions are welcome. — SK Joshi, PhD (@ras906359) October 17, 2019 Devotees in Telangana have been at the forefront in doing digital transactions at temples and some villages have already adopted the cashless path to hundis.
For instance, in Mukhra, a village of just 650 people in Adilabad district, during the Dussehra festival in 2017, villagers donated money by scanning QR codes placed at the temple hundi. Even priests are of the view that donations in any form are good — cash or cashless.
M Pavan Kumar Sharma, convenor of Telangana Brahmana Association, said, “Donations can be given in any form and in any way. People put money in hundi for punyam or dravya shuddhi or other reasons. How the donation is done shouldn’t be of concern”.