Archive · 13 Aug 2026
Ram temple trust completes CEO interview process for 18 candidates
The Ram temple in Ayodhya, India, needs a leader to help run it.
This leader will be called the Chief Executive Officer, or CEO.
A special committee talked to 18 people who wanted the job.
More than 5,000 people applied, but only 18 were invited for interviews.
The candidates included former army officers, police officers, and people who managed other temples.
They were asked how they would handle big crowds and keep the temple running well.
The committee will now choose three best candidates and send their names to the trust.
The trust will pick one person from those three to be the CEO.
Some religious leaders in Ayodhya do not want a CEO to be hired.
The search started after eight people were arrested for taking donations meant for the temple.
The selection committee completed interviews with 18 shortlisted candidates for the first full-time CEO post of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
The 18 candidates were shortlisted from around 5,200 applicants, including retired Army, IAS and IPS officers and temple administration and security experts.
The committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Pramod Kohli, will recommend three names from which the Trust will make the final appointment.
The CEO search follows allegations of embezzlement of donations meant for the Ram temple, in which eight people were arrested and three officials, including former general secretary Champat Rai, stepped down.
Some seers in Ayodhya oppose the CEO plan, and the Trust has proposed Jagdish Aafle as its first secretary pending ratification on September 2.
- Who
- The selection committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Pramod Kohli, along with Lt Gen Vishnukant Chaturvedi (retd) and Suresh Haware, acting for the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
- What
- Completed the interview process for 18 shortlisted candidates to appoint the Trust's first full-time CEO.
- When
- Thursday, August 13; the interviews were held over the last couple of days.
- Where
- Green House in the Ram temple complex, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
- Why
- To oversee the administrative and operational affairs of the Ram temple, after allegations of embezzlement of donations led to scrutiny of the Trust's financial management.
Opponents of CEO Appointment
Trust's Position
Appointing a full-time CEO
Opponents of CEO Appointment
Some seers in Ayodhya oppose the plan to appoint a CEO for the Trust.
Trust's Position
The Trust has proceeded with the selection process, interviewing 18 candidates to appoint a full-time CEO to oversee the temple's administration.
- Trust
- Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust
- Position
- First full-time CEO
- Candidates interviewed
- 18 (shortlisted from around 5,200 applicants)
- Selection committee head
- Justice Pramod Kohli, former Supreme Court judge
- Interview venue
- Green House, Ram temple complex, Ayodhya
- Arrests in donation embezzlement case
- 8 people
- Officials who stepped down
- 3, including former general secretary Champat Rai
- Proposed first secretary
- Jagdish Aafle (ratification at meeting on September 2)
