Lucknow: Almost Rs 900 crore has been spent on the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya so far and Rs 3,000 crore still remains unused, the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, a trust set up for building and managing the temple. The trust has now applied for getting funds in foreign currency.
Following a meeting of trust officials in Ayodhya Saturday, its general secretary Champat Rai told media persons late evening that it had submitted an application for registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), the law that regulates foreign contributions to Indian entities and their subsidiaries.
Rai said that discussions were held on a total of 18 points during the meeting.
“So far, the trust had not put up any application to the government of India for getting funds in foreign currency (for the temple’s construction). There were legal reasons behind it. But now, we have completed all formalities and have submitted an application for registration of the trust under the FCRA via online mode,” he added.
The Supreme Court’s verdict in November 2019, settling the Babri Masjid dispute in favour of the Ram Mandir, had paved the way for the construction of the temple.
Subsequently, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power at the Centre, and its associates in 2021 launched a “Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan” for collection of funds for the construction of the temple — one of the main poll promises of the BJP for more than three decades.
“If we start from 5 February, 2020, till 31 March, 2023, almost Rs 900 crore have been spent on the Mandir’s construction and other related works. Even today, in saving deposits and fixed deposits, we still have more than Rs 3,000 crore — which means very little of what has been collected under the ‘Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan’ has been spent so far,” said Rai.
“The money that has been received through donations via online mode, etc, is also being used continuously,” he added.
Rai also pointed out that all prior analysis of the speed of construction work had “turned out wrong”.
“In the beginning, we had thought that the work would be completed in these many years, but none of us had the experience of working with stone. Larson & Toubro and Tata (companies engaged in the construction work) did not have that experience. They had never done stone-carving, and hence, all analyses were wrong,” he said.
According to Rai, discussions were held at the meeting of trust officials on construction work proceeding further in three phases.
“The first phase will include completion of the ground floor of the temple and pran pratishtha (consecration of the idol of Ram Lalla) by January 2024, the second phase will be completed by 2024-end and the third phase by December 2025,” he said.
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‘Rice from akshat puja will be distributed across India’
Rai, who is also the international vice-president of the RSS affiliate right-wing outfit Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), talked about the plans of the body in relation to the temple.
“Akshat (rice) puja will be done before the consecration of the Ram Lalla idol and rice from the ceremony will be distributed across the country under a system. Two to four workers from across 50 different centres (of VHP and other Sangh affiliates) will arrive in Ayodhya and, after due planning, will distribute the rice among five lakh villages between January 1 and 15,” he explained, adding that families getting the rice will be requested to hold celebrations at their homes just like in Ayodhya.
“They will be asked to perform aarti, bhajans and kirtans and distribute prasad (offering) in their homes and light at least five diyas each in the evening outside the houses after sunset,” Rai said. “After the pran pratishtha, the photograph of the idol of Ram Lalla will be taken and published and distributed along with prasad to all devotees coming to Ayodhya, so that within one-two years, the picture reaches the houses of 10 crore people of the country.”
He also informed that the trust had been in talks with the Uttar Pradesh government to take over Ayodhya’s Ram Katha museum for the past six months, and that the government had agreed to it.
“There is an international Ram Katha Sangrahalaya along the Saryu Ghat in Ayodhya. Give it to us, we will run it, people should come to visit it. The trust needed a museum so that historical and legal documents could be kept there. Had we constructed it within 70 acres (area acquired by the trust around the temple site), the public wouldn’t have been able to see it for security reasons,” Rai said, explaining why the trust was interested in the museum.
He added that formalities for the takeover “will be completed on 9 October”.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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