Mumbai: The state assembly on Friday passed a Bill to reconstitute a public trust to manage the Shree Ram Mandir Devasthan in Vidarbha’s Ramtek district which mandates that members of the trust committee should be devotees of Shree Ram of Ramtek and make a declaration to this effect in a form, prior to their appointment.This comes at a time when the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust in Ayodhya, which has been rocked by a donation theft controversy, has declared that while appointing a CEO, the devotion to Lord Ram will be a primary consideration.The clause in the Bill caused an outcry from the Opposition with NCP SP MLA Jayant Patil stating the Constitution forbade discrimination on the basis of religion and demanded that the Bill be referred to a joint select committee to be studied further. However, the Bill was passed within just half an hour.Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Varun Sardesai asked, “Who will decide whether the committee member is really a devotee of Ram? Anyone can make such a declaration,” he said.The Bill states that the govt will form a committee of not more than 11 members to manage the trust. It says the MLA from Ramtek, currently the minister of state for finance Ashish Jaiswal who introduced the Bill in the assembly, will be an ex-officio member of the trust. Also, the president of the Ramtek Municipal Council will also be an ex-officio member. However, they will leave the trust once they demit office. One member of the committee has to be from the Bhosale family associated with the devasthan.Sardesai said Jaiswal introducing the bill was a conflict of interest. “Jaiswal is introducing the Bill and as per the bill, he will become a member of the trust committee by virtue of being the MLA of Ramtek. This is a clear conflict of interest,” he said.Several MLAs opposed the appointment of politicians to the committee. “There should be no political interference in the running of the temple. MLAs should not be appointed,” said Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar. “What if they divert funds to build a road in their constituency?” asked Jayant Patil.Wadettiwar also asked what measures had been taken to prevent donations being stolen as had happened in the temple at Ayodhya.Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Bhaskar Jadhav asked why the Bill was introduced on the last day of the 3-week monsoon session of the state assembly.Jaiswal said he was born on the day of Ram Navami and considered it the blessing of Lord Ram that he became the Ramtek MLA. “Most of the legislation to administer temple trusts in the state is along the same lines, whether it is the Shirdi or Siddhivinayak temples,” said Jaiswal.The Shree Ram Mandir Devasthan is located around 50 km from Nagpur. According to folklore, Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman are said to have stayed there during their exile.
