Nripendra Mishra, the chairman of the Ram Temple Construction Committee along with Senior VHP leader Champat R... Read More

AYODHYA: Exactly a month after the Ram Mandir trust was set up by the Centre, a bank account was formally opened in the name of Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust on Thursday afternoon at State Bank of India’s Ayodhya branch. The first deposit in the zero-balance current account will be from donations of the past 15 days in the collection box at the Ram Lalla makeshift temple.

The new account of the Trust will overtake the 27-year-old account in SBI’s Faizabad branch, which was opened soon after the Babri demolition to deposit donations by pilgrims for the constructions of Ram Temple . “The old account operated by the divisional commissioner has a credit balance of Rs 10 crore. The money will be transferred to the new account after we receive documents exempting the Trust from income tax,” said Trust member Anil Mishra.

The first bank account was opened by the commissioner in February 1993 after he was appointed receiver by the Supreme Court. The new account would be operated by three Trust members, Govindgiri Maharaj, Champat Rai and Dr Anil Mishra

According to procedure, the district treasury officer, SBI officials, executive magistrate and a goldsmith preside over the counting of donations every 15 days. Donations made in gold are valued and sent to the treasury locker while the money is deposited in the SBI account.

