VHP to rope in 5 lakh volunteers in Karnataka for Ram temple fundraising
Bengaluru, Dec 22: The VHP will rope in over five lakh volunteers to start a door-to-door fundraising drive in Karnataka from January 15 to February 27 next year to build a grand Sri Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the outfit's international working president Alok Kumar said on Tuesday.
Addressing reporters here, he said, "We are going to form a lakh groups comprising volunteers will go to 27,500 villages in the state and will be able to contact 90 lakh 'devotees' for obtaining the 'Nidhi Samarpan' (fund for temple)."
Laying out plans for fundraising, Kumar said a committee called Sri Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan Samiti has been formed in the state to oversee the fund collection drive.
According to Kumar, RSS functionary N Thippeswamy will be the secretary of the Karnataka Samiti.
There will be a committee of saints to guide the Samiti.
Kumar further said the fund would be collected through tokens of Rs 10, Rs 100, Rs 1,000.
For those who donate more than Rs 2,000 there will be a receipt.
These donations will be exempted under 80G of the Income Tax Act.
The VHP president said every group will consist of five persons who will hand over money to the depositor, who will deposit the entire money within 48 hours in designated bank accounts.
"Every depositor will have a registered code number at the nearest branch of one of the three banks namely State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank.
Full transparency would be maintained in the collection," he added.
On the temple project, Kumar said Larsen and Toubro is building the temple on a turn-key basis whereas Tata Consultancy would be the engineers for the construction.
He noted that there was a challenge facing the engineers as the temple was coming up adjacent to the perennial Sarayu river and there is sand to the depth of 60 to 70 ft.
The three-storey stone structure with an estimated life of 1,000 years will be built without using cement and iron rods.
"For the stability of the structure, engineers from IIT Mumbai, IIT Delhi, IIT Chennai, IIT Guwahati, CBRI Roorkee, Larsen & Toubro are working on the foundation drawing," he explained.
According to him, the temple made of stone blocks would have a total area of 2.7 acres.
The construction area is 57,400 sq. ft. The length of the shrine would be 360 feet with 235 feet.
It would be a three-storied structure with 5 mandaps.
It is expected that by 2024 Shri Ram Lala, the idol of Lord Rama, shall be established in the sanctum sanctorum of the main temple.
Along with the temple, there will be several other projects spread over 108 acres, Kumar said adding that all of them will be of world standard and marvellous in all aspects.
He underlined that the VHP does not consider it as yet another temple but a medium of social, religious and spiritual rejuvenation.
"We want to abolish all the differences related to caste, region and linguistics with this temple to build a harmonious society...," Kumar said.
He added that the VHP will not be collecting money from any government, municipal corporation or any public body.
Observing that funds will be collected from the Hindu community, he appealed to the people to donate generously.
"We will heartily accept a charity of even Rs 10 and Rs 100," the VHP president said.
On August 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had performed the 'bhoomi pujan' of a Supreme Court-mandated Ram temple in Ayodhya, bringing to fruition the BJP's 'mandir' movement that defined its politics for three decades and took it to the heights of power.
On November 9, 2019, the SC settled the fractious issue going back more than a century and backed the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site.
It also ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.
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Pat Cummins ruled out of T20 World Cup as Australia pick Ben Dwarshuis in 15-men squad
Melbourne (PTI): Australia suffered a huge blow on Saturday as premier pacer Pat Cummins was ruled out of the upcoming T20 World Cup due to an injury, forcing the national selectors to pick Ben Dwarshuis in his place in a 15-member squad.
Cummins, 32, has not recovered fully from his lingering back injury and will miss the tournament that begins in India and Sri Lanka on February 7, while top-order batter Matthew Short has also been omitted from the original 15-player squad.
Matthew Renshaw comes in for Short who was listed in the initial provisional squad.
Selector Tony Dodemaide said: "With Pat needing more time to recover from his back injury Ben is a ready replacement who offers a left arm pace option as well as dynamic fielding and late order hitting.
Cummins had initially been named in Australia's provisional squad.
"We believe his ability to swing the ball at good pace along with clever variations will be well suited to the conditions we expect and overall structure of the squad.
"Matt (Renshaw) has impressed in all formats of late, including in multiple roles in white ball formats for Australia, the Queensland Bulls and the Brisbane Heat.".
The trio of Josh Hazlewood, Tim David and Nathan Ellis have cleared the fitness test for the month-long T20 showpiece.
Hazlewood has not played since injuring his hamstring and Achilles prior to the Ashes. David missed most of the BBL and the Pakistan series because of a hamstring injury, while Ellis missed the Big Bash League finals and the Pakistan tour with a hamstring niggle.
"With the top order settled and spin heavy conditions expected in the pool stages in Sri Lanka, we also feel Matt provides extra middle order support, with Tim David completing his return to play program in the early phase of the tournament.
"As a left hander, he (Renshaw) also offers a point of difference to the middle order batting."
Australia is currently playing a three-game T20 Series against Pakistan in Lahore before leaving for Sri Lanka for the pool stages of the World Cup.
The T20 World Cup will be held in venues across India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8..
Australian squad: Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.
