Ayodhya, September 1: The search committee appointed to select the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Ram Janambhoomi Mandir submitted its final report on Tuesday, following a rigorous screening process that saw over 5,000 applicants vying for the prestigious post.
The report was submitted during a high-level meeting attended by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust members, including Treasurer Swami Govind Dev Giri Ji Maharaj, Mahant Dinendra Das, Acting General Secretary Krishna Mohan, and Ayodhya District Magistrate Shashank Tripathi.
The three-member search committee, comprising Retired Lieutenant General Vishnu Kant Chaturvedi, former Scientist Suresh Haware, and former Justice Pramod Kohli.
Speaking on the timeline of the appointment, Swami Govind Dev Giri Ji Maharaj, Treasurer of the Trust, said, "This report will be taken up in the Trust meeting tomorrow. I expect it (the announcement of the name of the first CEO of the Ram Temple) should happen, but the Trust will decide whether or not to announce the name immediately."
Highlighting the scale of the selection process, former Justice Pramod Kohli, a member of the search committee, revealed that the panel was overwhelmed by the initial response.
"You might be surprised to learn that we received 5,585 applications. It was a massive undertaking to scrutinise these applications. For this, we decided to create a Google Form with different categories and a scoring system based on the eligibility criteria; a 600-mark Google Form was created," Kohli said.
He further explained the multi-tier filtering process used to ensure only the most capable candidates moved forward.
"We sent this form to 3,577 individuals who met the initial criteria; while not everyone responded, 3,577 people did submit their responses, which were then scrutinised. We decided that for the Google Form assessment--which was out of 600 marks--we would only consider candidates who scored above 470 marks," he added.
According to the committee, 108 individuals secured 470 marks or more. These candidates underwent virtual interactions via video conferencing over four days, leading to a shortlist of 17 individuals. These were categorised into Grades A, B, and C based on their performance and approach.
"We had aimed to call candidates numbering five times the panel strength (which would have been 15 people), but since 17 fell into that category, we invited all 17 to Ayodhya Dham for in-person interactions," Justice Kohli said.
Out of the 17,16 candidates attended the final round in Ayodhya.
"Based on the marks allocated for various criteria, we selected three individuals whom we consider the best--people who are devoted, eager to work, possess a clear vision, and understand the issues at hand," Kohli said.
Emphasising the integrity of the selection, the former Justice stated, "We made this selection through a completely transparent and fair process, and we can say with full confidence that the Trust will decide which of these three will serve as the CEO. I believe that, by the grace of Lord Ram, this entire task will be accomplished successfully." (ANI)
