india

Updated: Jan 03, 2020 04:12 IST

The ministry of home affairs has set up a dedicated desk headed by an officer of the rank of additional secretary to look into all the matters related to the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya issue, including the formation of a trust for the construction of the Ram temple at the once disputed site, two government officials said on condition of anonymity. .

An order issued in this regard by the ministry, and reviewed by HT, stated that all matters related to Ayodhya and the related court judgements will be handled by three officers, headed by Additional Secretary Gyanesh Kumar. Kumar is currently heading the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh division in the ministry.

According to the SC judgement in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute, the MHA is expected to form a trust which will prepare a scheme for the construction of a temple.

The creation of an exclusive desk, one of the officials said , is expected to streamline the work of the trust and also carefully look into the legal aspects involved.

The apex court also ordered handing over of a 5-acre plot to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board at a different location in Ayodhya.

It is learnt that the Uttar Pradesh government has already sent a proposal to the home ministry suggesting three possible plots in Ayodhya for this.

“All these matters will be now handled by the new desk in the home ministry,” the first official said.

In the ministry, Gyanesh Kumar was one of the key people involved in the process of bifurcating Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories.

There was a dedicated Ayodha cell in the home ministry in the 1990s and early 2000s but it was closed down after the submission of the Liberhan Commission of Inquiry on the demolition of the babri Masjid in 1992.

In its order, the home ministry has also said the Internal Security-II division has been merged with the Internal Security-I division.

Joint Secretary (Women Safety) Punya Salila Srivastava has been given the charge of the merged Internal Security-I division along with her present responsibility in the home ministry. The internal security division looks after matters related to the official secrets act, arms act, enemy property, criminal law amendment, police research, human rights, and extraditions.