Gold Monetization Scheme Failed - Only 12 Tonnes of Gold Deposited

New Delhi : The 'Gold Monetization Scheme' launched with the intention of depositing thousands of tonnes of gold in the vaults of the common people's homes and institutions and depositing them in banks is not effective. Under this scheme, the amount of gold deposited in the banks was not even deposited.Families and institutions in the country have an estimated 24,000 tonnes of gold reserves despite white the total gold deposits could not be more that 12 tonnes. This is a failure scheme of the government. Official figures are not publicly available about how much gold deposited in the banks under the scheme. However, according to sources, only 11-12 tonnes of gold was deposited in the scheme, which is much less than the gold available to the families and institutions in the country.

A report of the Policy Commission stated that the participation of banks in the implementation of this scheme is low. There are 20 public sector and 19 private sector banks in the country and they have about 1.2 million branches. Of these, only 10 banks have facilitated the Gold Monetization Scheme. This facility was also available in limited branches. Apart from this, religious institutions also did not deposit gold as per the requirement. Apart from Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and Siddhi Vinayak Temple, no other big institution has come forward to deposit gold.

Policy Commission Suggestions: Various changes have been suggested to make the scheme effective in the report of the Policy Commission. It has been said in the report that more banks are asked to join this scheme. At the same time, at least one gram of gold should be allowed to be deposited under it. Apart from this, whatever gold is deposited under this scheme, it should be considered in CRR of banks. Also, jewelers who meet the prescribed standards should also be considered for allowing gold to be deposited.

Scheme started in 2015: Under the scheme started in 2015, there was a provision for depositing gold for short-term, mid-term and long-term. The purpose of this scheme was to deposit the unauthorized gold banks with the common people and institutions so that the depositors could earn income in the form of interest. Also, the accumulated gold should be made available for making jewelery or jewelery so as to reduce dependence on its imports. In India barely one percent of the total demand comes from domestic quarries only to import the rest to meet the demand. At the same time, 10 percent of the demand is fulfilled by the use of old gold. However, the demand and consumption of gold in the country is quite high. There is a domestic demand of 800-900 tonnes of gold every year in the country, which is 25 percent of the world's total demand.