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India Debates What to Do With Temple Treasure

Some want $22B to go to schools; others worry about corruption.

India is divided over what to do with $22 billion in gold coins, statues, and jewels recently discovered in the vault of a Hindu temple in the state of Kerala, where the treasure has remained untouched for centuries. Other countries have weighed in on the decision, and some say the money should go toward improving the rising but still largely impoverished country for building schools and subway systems. But many from Kerala's capital—including the state's top official, Hindus, and the royal family that once ruled the region and oversees the temple—are worried that government officials will either mismanage the money or even pocket it, and thus are insistent that the treasure remain for the most part untouched.