NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced the constitution of a trust which would oversee the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, nearly three months after the Supreme Court ruling in the decades-old case.
"The Union Cabinet has given its nod to set up a trust for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya," PM Modi announced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Soon after the meeting of the Union Cabinet ended, PM Modi reached Lok Sabha to make a statement in this regard.
"The trust for the construction of Ram temple has been named Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Shetra," PM Modi said.
"UP has agreed to give five acres of land to Sunni Wakf Board as directed by Supreme Court in Ayodhya matter," the PM said.
"Let us all support construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya," the PM said.
Home minister Amit Shah later said that Shri Ram Teertha Kshetra trust will have 15 members, with one of them from the Dalit community
In its verdict on November 9 , the Supreme Court had paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site at Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.
The apex court had said the trust should be formed within three months for the construction of the temple at the site where many Hindus believe Lord Ram was born.
With Delhi elections due later this week, there were rumblings in political circles about a possible poll code violation, soon after PM's announcement in the Lok Sabha.