Ayodhya (UP): The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust will select the first CEO of the Ram temple today from a likely shortlist of three during a meeting that may also announce the panel’s two members and general secretary after reviewing 5,585 applications, sources said on Tuesday.
The meeting follows the controversy over the alleged theft of offerings and the resignation of Champat Rai, former general secretary of the temple trust, and it will be held at the residence of Nritya Gopal Das, the Ram Mandir Trust president, in Maniramdas Chhawani.
The selection committee is likely to submit three shortlisted names to the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the trust’s first CEO, they said.
Selection committee officials – retired justice Pramod Kohli, retired lieutenant general Vishnukant Chaturvedi and expert member Suresh Hawde – have reached Ayodhya.
The temple trust will also make an official announcement on the post of secretary of the trust in a meeting likely to begin at 2 pm on Wednesday. Jagdish Aafle will be the first secretary of the temple trust. Aafle, who is from Maharashtra, is associated with RSS and is the Ram temple construction project manager.
VHP international general secretary Bajrang Lal Bangda may also be included in the trust, sources said.
Treasurer of the temple trust, Govind Dev Giri, upon being asked whether the new CEO will be named on Wednesday, said, “That is up to the trust to decide. I expect it to happen, but the board of trustees will decide whether to do it or not.”
