Ram Temple Construction Committee Chairman Nripendra Misra says serious lapses in monitoring
June 19, 2026: Amid the ongoing investigation into alleged irregularities involving donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Ram Temple Construction Committee Chairman and former IAS officer Nripendra Misra said devotees had been “betrayed” and claimed there were serious failures in the system responsible for safeguarding temple offerings. Speaking to ABP News, Misra alleged that donations were openly misappropriated and said preliminary findings suggest there was little effective supervision over the counting process. He noted that under the agreement between the temple trust and the bank, the responsibility for counting and accounting of donations rested with the bank, which, according to him, failed to fulfil its obligations.
Misra further stated that the bank was required to deploy its own personnel in the donation counting room, but this arrangement was allegedly not implemented. He said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) would determine why the prescribed procedures were not followed. Stressing that the situation could have been avoided, Misra said strict transparency measures, accountability mechanisms, CCTV surveillance and proper monitoring of personnel entering and leaving the counting area should have been enforced throughout the process.
Addressing concerns regarding missing CCTV footage, Misra clarified that the recordings were not intentionally deleted but were removed through an automatic deletion system. However, he said the footage could have been preserved if necessary, but that step was not taken. He also highlighted that surveillance existed at two levels, through both the temple trust and police monitoring systems. Blaming the controversy on a lack of administrative management experience, Misra recommended the immediate appointment of an experienced officer within the trust structure and said such an official should be given adequate independence to ensure proper oversight.