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After SC’s Ayodhya verdict, govt meet next week on contours of trust
Officials said that the prime minister will call for a meeting sometime next week to decide on the future course of action, after the government’s advisers go through the 1045-page judgement.
As the Supreme Court in its verdict on the Ayodhya dispute entailed a Trust, which was to be formed by the Centre to construct and manage the Ram Temple at the disputed site, it emerged that the union ministry of culture will be the nodal ministry, as per officials of the central government.
Officials said that the prime minister will call for a meeting sometime next week to decide on the future course of action, after the government’s advisers go through the 1045-page judgement. A decision on the Trust will be taken only after inter-ministerial deliberations, said officials.
Several officials said that the Trust, contours of which remains to be decided, could follow the Somnath Trust, of which both prime minister Narendra Modi as well as BJP president Amit Shah are members. The Somnath Trust has seven members in all, and the rest include veteran BJP leader LK Advani, former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel, retired Gujarat chief secretary Pravin Laheri, businessman Harshavardhan Neotia and professor Jivanbhai Parmar.
In its judgement, the five-member bench headed by chief justice Ranjan Gogoi held that the Trust needs to be formulated within three months. “The Central Government shall, within a period of three months from the date of this judgment, formulate a scheme … the scheme shall envisage the setting up of a trust with a Board of Trustees or any other appropriate body,” the judgement reads.
The judgement also held that under the scheme the selection of trustees, the provisions as well as the power of the trustees will be decided by the Centre. The power of the trustees are to include the construction of a temple and “all necessary, incidental and supplemental matters”.
Union culture minister Prahlad Patel told reporters on Saturday after the verdict that with the proceedings of the case over, the report of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on the site should be published. “The report will now cease to be the apex court’s property, and so the Centre will publish a book for our future generations,” Patel said.
Ministry officials further added that within the ministry discussions on a Ram Museum have begun. The museum will house artefacts that antiquities that were found by the ASI while digging the site will be put up on display, said officials.
In anticipation of a heavy flow of tourists, the ministries of culture and tourism have plans of developing the area around the temple. Prior to the judgement, the Centre has been working on a plan to declare the area a heritage site. The ministry has been grading temples in three categories -- new temples, temples aged below 100 years and temples built more than a century ago.
“The ministry will work on a plan to develop new infrastructure around the temple, outside 12 sq kilometres of the temple structure,” said an official.
