Interviewtimes 
The mystery surrounding Lord Jagannath’s ‘Ratna Bandar’ has deepened as the Odisha government has ‘no plans’.
The Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) under the State Law Department did not respond to inquiries of Bolangir-based RTI activist Hemant Panda.
The State Information Commission recently fined SJTA officer, S.K. Chatterjee for failing to disclose information in the public interest.
The Temple Administrator (Development) Ajay Kumar Jena claimed that SJTA failed to decide to open the inner chamber of ‘Ratna Bhandar’ and this matter will be brought up to Sri Jagannath Temple Management Committee at the next meeting.
Jayanarayan Mishra, leader of the opposition in the state legislature, said the state government had never made any attempt to open the inner chambers of the treasury, even though they contained gold, diamond jewellery, precious stones and other ornaments. The Sri Jagannath Temples Act,1955 stipulates that Ratna Bhandar be inspected every three years but now its been closed for 44 years.
