After the abolishment of the contract system, the funds for the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon Region have increased year after year with Ks94.12 billion raised till October 2020, said Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture Thura Aung Ko. 

The minister revealed in the information during an interview on the ministry’s achievements in the period from 2016 to 2021. The interview video was released on January 2. 

“In the past, the annual auction fee was not more than Ks50 million. After contract bidding ended and the system of placing locked donation boxes started, more than Ks50 million could be raised in three significant days such as full moon days of Waso, Thadingyut and Tazaumone. The amount is more than 100 times now. Other sectors have improved as well. For keeping shoes of pilgrims also, we did not hire a contractor. We have staff members to give services. We provide good services. We don’t care if the pilgrims will make donations or not. When we opened a box, cash donations were ten times those under the contract system. We did all necessary things for the pagoda while we tried to minimize loss and wastage. When we took charge in 2016, the fund was about Ks58 billion. The funds increased to Ks65 billion in 2017, Ks73.96 billion in 2018, Ks89.87 billion in 2019 and Ks94.12 billion till October 2020. We are trying harder for more and more improvement. There is another fund of about US$20 million,” the minister said. 

A total of 350 IP and CCTV cameras have been installed in the precinct of the pagoda for security purposes, according to the ministry.