Govind Dev Giri
Ayodhya: The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust will strengthen its monitoring and oversight mechanisms to prevent incidents such as a recent theft at the Ram temple from recurring, newly appointed general secretary Govind Dev Giri said on Friday, September 4.
He defended the appointment of the trust’s first CEO, Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra (retd) as part of efforts to bring greater discipline to its functioning.
Giri said the incident of donation theft could have been prevented with continuous supervision, and stressed that the trust did not want such episodes to be repeated.
“If we do not pay attention to all these things, there is a possibility that an incident like what happened here can happen again. We do not want to repeat such things,” he said.
Giri said even a small theft at the temple is a serious matter, although he claimed the actual incident was much smaller than the figures subsequently circulated.
“Even a small theft in Lord Ram’s darbar is a serious crime for me,” he said, adding that ensuring that nobody gets an opportunity to commit such an offence was the trust’s “first duty”.
He said continuous monitoring would be necessary after responsibilities were divided among different personnel.
“Once a work has been started, it does not mean it will continue properly forever. A person’s mind is fickle and changes,” Giri said.
Defending the appointment of Air Marshal Mishra as the trust’s first CEO, Giri said the temple’s religious traditions and rituals would remain under the guidance of saints and learned acharyas, while administrative and operational functions required professional management.
“Sometimes it may seem… this is a temple, so what is the need for a corporate system here? The temple’s worship, festivals and traditions are the work of saints and learned acharyas…
“But the management of the employees and other arrangements has to be on practical lines, and for that we will have to adopt modern methods,” he said.
Giri said the trust needs a professional person who will remain at the complex and ensure that the administrative arrangements are carried out in a disciplined manner.
He also praised Mishra, saying the new CEO is a “Ram bhakt” and a religious-minded person who follows spiritual practices.
“We were very happy to know that he is fundamentally a very religious-minded person, one who follows proper conduct and himself reads the Gita,” Giri said.
“When I gave him a copy of the Gita, he said, ‘I myself read one chapter of the Gita every day’,” he said.
Giri said Mishra’s religious outlook would help ensure that discipline was maintained without compromising the temple’s traditions.
“Whoever remains devoted and has faith in dharma will never allow devotion to be compromised along with discipline,” he said.
He said three detailed meetings had been held over the past two days to familiarise Mishra with the temple complex, its personnel and the responsibilities he would oversee.
Giri said the trust would combine traditional practices with modern management systems and the process had already begun.
“The beginning has already been made and you will start seeing its impact from tomorrow. We have changed the arrangements for the Shringar Aarti,” he said.
The trust is also reviewing the arrangements at the Sita Rasoi Ann Kshetra to ensure that devotees receive ‘prasad’ with greater dignity and comfort.
He said the trust would also work to improve facilities for pilgrims and visitors and make efforts to associate Ayodhya’s saints and residents more closely with the temple.
This post was last modified on September 4, 2026 8:37 pm