The first administrative action in the ongoing Ram Mandir donation theft row took place on Monday, with Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust accepting the resignations of top functionaries Champat Rai and Anil Mishra. Both oversaw the temple’s affairs, including the management of donations and finances.
Trust general secretary Rai and member Mishra had tendered their resignations on moral grounds after a special investigation team (SIT) probing the allegations of theft of the temple’s offerings arrested eight persons, among them Rai’s former driver.
After a three-and-a-half-hour meeting in Ayodhya, the Trust named its member Krishna Mohan as interim general secretary and said a final appointment would be made on July 22, the day the next Trust meeting is scheduled.
The Trust also announced the formation of a three-member committee to appoint a chief executive officer (CEO) for the temple. The committee comprises retired judge Pramod Kohli, Lt Gen Vishnukant Chaturvedi (retd) and Suresh Havde.
Importantly, in a detailed statement issued after the meeting, the Trust said it had sought public comments on ways to improve the temple’s functioning and would consider similar suggestions from the SIT. The SIT report is expected to be available by July 22.
Maintaining that there had been no decline in the number of devotees visiting the temple despite “false narratives” and controversies, the Trust attacked sections of politicians for “exploiting the unfortunate incident to spread baseless allegations to mislead people rather than finding the truth”.
“Some people are trying to exploit this unfortunate incident to undermine the collective Hindu faith, Hindu society, Ram Janmabhoomi and the deity himself…. But there is no fall in the number of devotees visiting Ram Mandir. This shows that despite the baseless allegations, the faith of Lord Rama devotees stays intact," said the Trust.
After the meeting, the Trust described the theft of temple offerings as deeply “hurtful and concerning, and said all guilty should be punished”. The Trust, however, added that “until the legal process concluded and the truth was revealed, public allegations against individuals were unfair”.
Speaking to the media later, Trust treasurer Govind Giri said the Trust “unanimously appreciated Rai’s contributions to the Ram Temple movement and construction despite accepting his resignation”. “Champat Rai, in my eyes, is untainted,” he said, adding that Rai had devoted his entire life to the Ram Temple movement.
Giri also explained that the Trust rules provided for automatic acceptance of resignation should a member choose to step down. “Champat Rai resigned voluntarily. The Trust has no discretion in these matters," Giri said, citing the Trust’s constitution that says resignations, if offered, must be accepted. “Rai can, however, choose to stay Trustee if he wants,” he said.
In its statement, the Trust said that so far, Rs 482 crore had been received in offerings and donations to the temple, of which Rs 370 crore was used for its management, while the balance was available.
On devotees demanding accountability of their offerings, the Trust said each of the 2,926 offerings were accounted for and silverware had been melted into silver bars at government facilities. “Due certification for every item is available and every offering can be displayed to devotees,” said the Trust, seeking to allay concerns.
