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. 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 RamJanmabhoomi 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.