Shiv Sena donates Rs 1 crore for Ram temple construction

Shiv Sena has given Rs one crore and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Rs 11 lakh for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai has said.

Lucknow: The Shiv Sena has given Rs one crore and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Rs 11 lakh for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai said here on Friday.

"The Shiv Sena has given Rs one crore and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given Rs 11 lakh in his personal capacity for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya," he told a press conference here to elaborate on the "Shri Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpan" drive that will be run in the country from January 15 to February 27 next year.

The support of every Ram devotee from all over the country will be solicited for the grand temple to be built at the birthplace of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, Rai said, adding that for this, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists will go from door to door, accompanied by venerated seers and others.

Rai had earlier said in New Delhi that the temple will be built using domestic funds collected from the general public through a mass-contact programme as the trust does not have the required approvals for accepting donations from abroad.

READ: Gujarat police reopens case against customs staffers

He reiterated that photographs of the proposed new model of the temple will reach crores of households through this campaign.

"Voluntary donations from Ram bhakts will be accepted for which coupons of Rs 10, Rs 100 and Rs 1,000 will be made available," he said.

In order to maintain transparency in the financial dealings and transactions, the trust has printed four crore coupons of Rs 10 denomination, eight crore coupons of Rs 100 and 12 lakh coupons of Rs 1,000 denomination, Rai said.

He further said no target has been fixed for collecting funds and no estimate has been made of the expenditure for the construction of the temple.

Rai said through this campaign, people will be made aware of the historical significance of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

PTI