Ayodhya Ram Temple trust likely to name first CEO on wednesday

The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is expected to select Ayodhya Ram temple’s first CEO from three shortlisted candidates on Wednesday. The meeting may also announce new trust office-bearers following vacancies linked to recent deaths, alleged offering theft and resignations

Ayodhya (UP): The first CEO of the Ram temple will be selected from a likely shortlist of three on Wednesday at a meeting of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust that may also announce the two members and general secretary of the panel, sources said.

The meeting, which comes in the wake of the controversy over the alleged theft of offerings and the resignation of former general secretary of the temple trust Champat Rai, will be held at the place of the president of the Ram Mandir Trust, Nritya Gopal Das, in Maniramdas Chhawani. The selection committee is likely to submit three shortlisted names to the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the first CEO of the trust, they said.

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Selection committee officials, retired Justice Pramod Kohli, retired Lieutenant General Vishnukant Chaturvedi, and expert member Suresh Hawde, have reached Ayodhya. Three vacant posts were created following the death of trust member Vimalendra Mohan Pratap Mishra, and alleged theft of offerings and the resignation of former general secretary of the temple trust Champat Rai and Anil Mishra.

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 the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is the Ram temple construction project manager. A resident of Pune, Aafle holds a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering and an M.Tech from IIT Bombay. He is said to have worked in India, Europe and the United States before returning to India after retirement.

According to the sources, Aafle joined the Ram Mandir construction project as an honorary project manager on the RSS’ recommendation. He has since been living with his wife at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra premises in Ayodhya. 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.” “We sought this guidance (from a three-member selection panel) because we were in search of an excellent CEO to ensure the superior management of such a big, world-renowned temple,” Giri said, adding that the panel went through approximately 5,500 applications, and finally, conducted interviews with 16 individuals.

Justice (retired) Pramod Kohli, who headed the three-member CEO selection team for the Ayodhya Ram Temple, on Tuesday expressed confidence that the panel selected by them are the “best”, “have a vision” and “understand issues”.

Upon being asked about the selection process, Justice Kohli told reporters in Ayodhya, “We can say with complete confidence that this selection process was entirely transparent and fair. The trust will now decide which of these three individuals will serve as the CEO.” “The trust made its decision on July 6, and we received the letter appointing the three of us as members of the search committee on July 8. We held our first meeting on July 11, during which we made certain decisions,” he said.

Eligibility criteria were decided for the CEO position, and applications were invited from individuals meeting the eligibility requirements, with July 18 as the deadline. Between July 11 and 18, 5,585 applications were received, Justice Kohli said.

Referring to the work undertaken by the selection team, he said scrutinising those applications was a massive task. “So, we held a meeting on July 19 and decided to create a Google Form featuring different categories and assigning marks based on eligibility criteria.

A Google Form consisting of 600 marks was created and sent to 3,577 persons. On further categorisation, 108 individuals fell into that specific category — those who had scored 470 marks or higher. We conducted virtual interactions via video conferencing with these 108 individuals — a process that spanned about four days,” he said.

From that group, 17 people were shortlisted and categorised into Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C based on their performance and their approach.

“Based on the marks allocated for various attributes, we formed a three-member panel comprising individuals we consider the best, the people who are devoted and willing to work, possess a clear vision, and understand the issues at hand. That was the kind of person we tried to select,” he said.