The trust managing the Ayodhya Ram temple will decide on the name of the chief executive officer (CEO) and its deed amendment on Wednesday, besides deliberating on a series of other issues amid the row over alleged donation irregularities at the shrine.
Justice (retd) Pramod Kohli, the screening committee chairman, and members Lt Gen (Retd) V K Chaturvedi and scientist-industrialist Suresh Haware arrived in Ayodhya late on Monday and handed over a sealed letter to the trust chairman, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das Maharaj, with three shortlisted names. People aware of the matter said the shortlisted names will be deliberated and the CEO’s name will be announced on Wednesday.
Previous proceedings will be confirmed before the amendment is taken up. Nripendra Mishra, chairman of the Ram Mandir Construction Committee, has called a full-time CEO critical to bringing professional administration and transparency. The CEO will report to the trust’s general secretary and is expected to formulate long-term plans. The CEO will discharge all statutory, administrative, and financial responsibilities. Trustees have moved a proposal for it.
The trust deed is being amended for the first time since the trust was created in February 2020. The Uttar Pradesh government constituted the SIT on June 13. It filed its interim report on July 20. The Supreme Court set up a second SIT on July 20. The controversy first surfaced on June 7 when Opposition Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan ‘Pawan’ Pandey alleged that donations worth ₹ 5 crore to ₹ 7.5 crore were siphoned off from temple offerings. On June 13, the state government set up the SIT.
The trust has said that it will define the CEO’s powers, with no government interference. The trust has said the CEO will develop systems, procedures, and operational practices appropriate to the nature and scale of the organisation, and build and strengthen its structure.
