The Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, set up to oversee the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, held its first meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, and elected Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas’s Mahant Nritya Gopal Das as chairman and Champat Rai, described as a social activist and also associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, as general secretary.
The meeting also decided that Nripendra Mishra, former Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will head a committee to take decisions regarding the actual construction of the temple.
A State Bank of India account (while not explicitly stating that funds for the temple be via public donations or subscriptions) will be opened at the Ayodhya branch of the bank in the trust’s name. Swami Govind Dev Giriji Maharaj will be the treasurer of the trust. Signatures of Swami Govind Dev Giriji Maharaj, Mr. Rai or Dr. Anil Mishra (two of three) will suffice to operate the account.
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Delhi-based chartered accountancy firm, V. Shankar Aiyyar and Company will be the accountants for the trust. Earlier in the day, it was notified that senior Uttar Pradesh bureaucrat Awanish Awasthi and Ayodhya district magistrate Anuj Jha would be the State’s representatives in the trust, while Gyanesh Kumar of the Home Ministry was present at the meeting.
Senior advocate K. Parasaran, Swami Vishwaprasanna Teertha, Swami Vasudevanandji Saraswati, Yugpurush Swami Parmanandji Maharaj and Kameshwar Chaupal, members of the trust, were present at the first meeting along with those named above.
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While no date has been announced for temple construction to begin, sources told The Hindu that a date in April is being favoured. According to a press statement issued by the trust, the meeting began with a vote of thanks “to all Sants and Ram Bhakts from 1528 onwards” who strove for the temple. The resolution also expressed thanks to the Narendra Modi government as well as the Uttar Pradesh government for its “constructive role” over the issue and reposed full faith in the constitutional institutions and law courts of the country.
While the initial announcement of the trust did not include its current chairperson and general secretary, they were added later with the trust being empowered to do so.
No date for the next meeting has been officially announced.
