Fake Silver Offerings Scam at Vaishno Devi Shrine Raises Serious Concerns

Numerous devotees visit the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine every year, believing they are offering pure silver to the goddess. However, a recent finding suggests that many of these offerings may not be what they seem. A government mint examined a large amount of donated metal and discovered that much of the so-called “silver” contained only about 5-6% actual silver. The rest was made up of cheaper metals like cadmium and iron.

The scale of the issue is quite serious. When the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board sent around 20 tonnes of collected offerings for processing, they expected to recover silver worth about Rs 500-550 crore. Instead, early estimates show that the actual value of recoverable silver may be only around Rs 30 crore.

One of the main metals used to fake silver appears to be cadmium. It looks very similar to silver but is much cheaper, costing around Rs 400-500 per kg, while silver costs about Rs 2.75 lakh per kg. On top of that, cadmium is dangerous to health. It is restricted under rules set by the Bureau of Indian Standards because it can release toxic and cancer-causing fumes when heated.

Interestingly, this problem has not been reported in other major temples like Tirupati Temple, Siddhivinayak Temple, Guruvayur Temple, and Srikalahasti Temple. This has raised doubts that the fake silver might be coming from local shops and jewellers near the Vaishno Devi route, where many devotees buy their offerings. The mint has reportedly raised this issue several times over the past year and even contacted authorities, including the office of Manoj Sinha. However, no clear action has been confirmed so far.

The situation is quite alarming. For example, in one case, a 70 kg batch of offerings contained only about 3 kg of real silver. It took nearly three months to separate the usable silver using special equipment. The inclusion of cadmium rendered the process hazardous, as it has the potential to emit toxic fumes when subjected to melting. The mint had to take extra safety precautions before continuing. Overall, this appears to be a large and serious issue. It not only involves financial cheating but also raises major health and safety concerns for both devotees and workers.