A series of meetings involving Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust treasurer Govind Dev Giri took place on Wednesday amid the continuing Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged embezzlement of Ram temple donations.
Published: July 9, 2026, 7:08 AM IST
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How is Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust structured
New Delhi: In a significant development, the authorities at the Ayodhya Ram temple have announced a leadership overhaul after allegations that tens of millions of rupees received in donations have been stolen. The trust that manages the shrine said it had accepted the resignation of general secretary Champat Rai and replaced him with an interim official. To recall, the temple was inaugurated in January 2024 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and soon became one of India’s most important pilgrimage centres attracting 50 million visitors annually.
On Monday, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust – an independent trust which manages the shrine – held its first meeting after allegations of donation thefts surfaced last month. The trust had earlier denied any wrongdoing. But the state government set up a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to inquire into the allegations. Following an interim report from the SIT, Ayodhya police registered a case of alleged embezzlement, naming eight people. They were arrested and were being questioned, police said.
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra is the body that was created by the Narendra Modi government in February 2020 to build and manage the Ram temple at Ayodhya and oversee associated religious, administrative, and development activities.
How the trust is structured
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra consists of 15 trustees and is a registered public charitable trust. The composition of the board mainly constitutes religious leaders and saints associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. It also has legal and social representatives connected with the dispute and temple campaign.
Local representation from Ayodhya.
Government nominees (including representatives connected with the central and state administrations, as permitted under the trust deed).
The trustees elect office-bearers such as:
- President/Chairperson
- General Secretary
- Treasurer
These office-bearers handle day-to-day administration, correspondence, finances, and implementation of resolutions passed by the trust.
It is important to note that the major decisions are taken through meetings of the board of trustees. As per the process, a proposal is placed before the trustees (for example, temple construction, appointments, finances, land acquisition, rituals, or project planning). Then, the matter is discussed in a formal meeting.
A resolution is passed by the trustees present, generally through consensus or majority approval according to the trust’s rules. Once approved, the office-bearers and committees execute the decision.
Committees and execution
For specialized work, the trust may constitute committees or engage experts such as:
- Temple architects
- Engineers
- Financial advisers
- Ritual and religious scholars
- Project management agencies
Crucial Ram Temple Trust meetings held amid theft row
A series of meetings involving Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust treasurer Govind Dev Giri took place on Wednesday amid the continuing Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged embezzlement of Ram temple donations.
This followed the Trust’s crucial meeting days ago, where the resignations of former general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra on moral grounds were accepted.
Officials said the Trust also decided to overhaul its administrative structure, including appointing a professional chief executive officer, following the controversy. Trust sources said Giri visited Rai and discussed matters with him for nearly an hour at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust office.
The meeting came after Rai, in a letter addressed to devotees on Tuesday, said he would respond to all allegations after the SIT completes its investigation and submits its final report.
Rai said in the letter that he had adopted maun dharan (a vow of silence) till then and appealed to devotees not to be misled by rumours or speculative reports. Sources said in the signed statement that later surfaced, Rai also questioned the State Bank of India’s role in the temple’s donation-counting process.
He claimed the bank used a private agency to count cash and alleged the theft occurred during that process rather than under the Trust’s direct supervision. Giri publicly defended Rai, saying Rai remained “untainted” in his eyes while maintaining that Rai had trusted the wrong people for too long, allowing the alleged embezzlement to go undetected.
Later in the day, a delegation of Ayodhya saints met Giri and discussed recent developments in the Trust, the ongoing SIT investigation and the future course of the temple administration, according to sources familiar with the meetings.
Giri also met Trust special invitee Gopal Rao, who maintained that he remains associated with the Trust despite being asked to stay away from its proceedings for the time being. The meetings came as the SIT continues to probe the alleged diversion of devotees’ donations from the temple’s donation boxes.
