Nritya Gopal Das elected president, Champat Rai general secretary of Ram Janmabhoomi Trust; Nripendra Misra to head temple construction committee

New Delhi: The first meeting of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra Trust, formed by the Centre for building Ram temple at Ayodhya, on Wednesday (February 19) elected Nitya Gopal Das as its president, Champat Rai General Secretary, while Swami Govind Dev Giri was named as its Treasurer.

The meeting was held at the residence of senior Supreme Court lawyer K Parasaran, head of the Board of Trustees, also elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's former principal secretary Nripendra Misra as the head of the temple construction committee of the Trust.

Other members of the trust are Jagatguru Shankracharya, Jyothishpeethadheeshwar Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati Ji Maharaj from Allahabad, Jagatguru Madhavacharya Swami Vishwa Prasannatheerth Ji Maharaj, Pejawar Math in Udupi, Yugpurush Paramanand Ji Maharaj from Haridwar, Swami Govinddev Giri Ji Maharaj from Pune and Vimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra from Ayodhya. 

The meeting, which aimed at working out modalities to speed up the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, also decided to open an account in Ayodhya's State Bank of India branch for donations for the temple construction, VHP vice president Champat Rai told reporters after the meeting.

Among those present at the meeting were the central government representative, additional secretary in Home ministry Gyanesh Kumar, UP government's representative Avinash Awasthy and Ayodhya District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha.

Earlier on February 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the formation of the 15-member trust in Parliament. The Trust, which has seven members, five nominated members and three trustees, was formed in accordance with the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute in November 2019.