The Central Vice President of Vishva Hindu Parishad and General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra (Trust) Champat Rai addressed a press conference on Saturday (March 6), to give a briefing on the now-concluded Ram Mandir construction donation drive, which was a part of the 45-day crowdfunding campaign launched by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Speaking about the “Shri Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpan” drive, VP Champat Rai said that the world’s biggest campaign for the construction of the Bhavya Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, which began on January 14 and ended on February 27, 2021, unified Bharatvarsh from east to west and north to south.
The Vice President of the Hindu organisation informed that they had accomplished the target of Samarpan in 400,000 villages. “Although the statistics of the families contacted are yet to come, it is estimated that we have liaised with about 100 million families and Samarpan (contributions) have been received from every quarter and walk of life of society”, said Champat Rai, furthering that “even if the final figures are yet to come, it can be said, based on the banks’ receipts till February 4, that the Samarpan amount would cross Rs 25,000 million. He also informed that more than 10 crore families across India made contributions towards the construction of Ram Mandir.
“Ram devotees in every nook and corner of the country have made their contributions. From the North-Eastern region of Bharat, the people of Arunachal Pradesh have contributed Rs 45 million, Manipur Rs 20 million, Mizoram Rs 2.1 million, Nagaland Rs 2.8 million, Meghalaya Rs 8.5 million, and from Southern states, the people of Tamil Nadu contributed Rs 850 million, and Kerala Rs 130 million.”
The VHP Central Vice President informed that to fulfil this mammoth task, almost 900,000 Karyakartas divided themselves in 175,000 teams and went door-to-door to speak to people and collect donations that would be utilised in the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Overwhelmed by seeing the volunteer’s devotion, Rai stated that the fund-raising campaign has ended with generous contributions from crosssections of people, including residents of far-flung villages of India, blurring religious barriers. He said he was touched to learn that in many places even beggars, daily wagers and small farmers made their prayerful offerings for the humble cause.
Giving an insight into how the entire team worked in unison to achieve the goals, Rai said that the donation amount was deposited in bank accounts through 38,125 Karyakartas. To maintain transparency of the entire campaign, while 49 control rooms were working across the country, 23 qualified Karyakartas led by two chartered accountants at the main centre in Delhi, were constantly in touch with the entire network to monitor the accounts.
Lauding Hyderabad’s Dhanusha Infotech Company for creating a flawless app which acted as a digital bridge among the Karyakartas, banks and the trust, Rai opined: “The app, created by Dhanusha Infotech Company of Hyderabad, did a commendable job as a meticulously-built digital network to act as a digital bridge among the Karyakartas, banks and the trust.
Updating about the work in progress at the Janmbhoomi site, Champat Rai said that the foundation digging and earth removal works are almost 60% completed and it is expected that the foundation filling work will get started in the first week of April-2021.
Though the donation drive is over, Champat Rai said that those who missed this Samarpan (contribution) drive, and want to make their contributions, can do it by sending their contribution directly to the account of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, details of which are provided here.
Ram Mandir donation drive
The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teertha Kshetra trust which is overseeing the construction of the Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya had launched a mass contact and contribution campaign, the ‘Shri Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpan’ on January 15.
Nearly 1.50 lakh VHP activists have been collecting funds under the ‘Shri Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpan’ drive. Thirty-seven activists have been deputed to deposit the donations in the three nationalised bank accounts of the trust.
The Ram temple trust has opened accounts in the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and the Bank of Baroda. From remote villages, the Hindu organisation activists are bringing funds and depositing them in the bank accounts. The find collection drive concluded on February 27. While the fund collection drive has seen massive participation from Hindus, many VHP and Bajrang Dal activists are being brutally attacked, assaulted and even killed for being a part of this campaign.
