00:00The hero who led from the front to protect India during Operation Sindhur is now all set to guard Ram
00:08Lalla in Ayodhya.
00:10Retired Air Marshal Jitendra Mishra is now the new Chief Executive Officer of the Ram Temple Trust.
00:16He says he is grateful for this opportunity and has sought the blessings of Lord Ram so that he can
00:21discharge his duties well.
00:23But the Congress has yet again come into question his appointment, arguing that post belongs to saints.
00:30It is also alleged that the government and the Prime Minister no longer trust the RSS and the BHP, accusing
00:36their members of being caught red-handed in the donation case, theft case.
00:41The Congress Party also says the new appointment cannot bury the very chori issue.
00:46In fact, Samajwadi Party Chief, Achilles Yadav himself, has also slammed the government, saying that big names are being spared
00:53and small ones are being jailed and that the new trust team faces a huge challenge of restoring people's faith
01:02in the Ram Mandir and especially in the donations that go in with, of course, that people offer with their
01:10faith.
01:11BJP, on the other hand, BJP, on the other hand, has welcomed the appointment of the new Ram Mandir CEO,
01:16saying the move will bring greater discipline, efficiency and transparency to the temple administration.
01:22The party has said that the new CEO who has served the nation will now be dedicating his experience to
01:28serving Ram Mandir and its devotees.
01:33Sir, heartiest congratulations on being appointed the new CEO of the Sri Ram Temple Trust.
01:40Sir, what will be, what was your first reaction when your name was announced?
01:46First of all, thank you for the compliments.
01:50The first reaction was heart filled with gratitude and I consider myself a fortunate person to have got this opportunity.
01:58Oh, absolutely.
01:59And you are a very strong Sri Ram Bhakt, aren't you, sir?
02:04A very strong what?
02:05Come again, please.
02:06Sri Ram Bhakt, you believe in Maryadapur Sotam, Sri Ram, his ideology, his thinking.
02:11You are from Devaraya.
02:12Tell us more about this, this transition from forge to faith.
02:17Who isn't a Sri Ram Bhakt?
02:19True, sir.
02:22Absolutely.
02:23Sir, from Operation Vijay to Operation Sindhur to this new task, what will your priorities be, sir?
02:33So, see, as far as the responsibilities of the CEO are concerned, they are available in the open domain on
02:41the side of the trust.
02:45The QR, it was just those responsibilities.
02:51They were looking for a person who they thought would be able to fulfill those responsibilities.
02:55And like I said, I am thankful to the first committee and the trust for having selected me.
03:01And I look forward to doing my best in the responsibilities that have been placed on my shoulder.
03:08Sir, if I may take you back in history, if I, for a moment, and I want the young generation
03:14to know about Operation, you know, Safed Sagar, Operation Vijay in Kargil.
03:21How difficult were the operations that you undertook, especially Tiger Hill, Manto Dhalo, you know, that precision bombing?
03:29And what was your spiritual frame of mind, along with your military frame of mind?
03:35The indoctrination, the training, and the practice that we do in the Air Force, it is to make not only
03:42the difficult, but the impossible possible.
03:45And that is what the Air Force has been doing for the last 90 plus years.
03:50Operation Safed Sagar was a very difficult operation.
03:52And as you would have seen on TV or read in the books, in the history books, that the Air
03:57Force once again proved their professionalism, as they did in Operation Sindur.
04:02Oh, they absolutely did.
04:03And I was privileged, sir, like you'd recall, covering it on ground in Kargil.
04:08But, and also Operation Sindur, sir, Op Sindur, taking down an entire fighting force in under 30 hours, you know,
04:19of the adversary.
04:21Again, what was your thought process then, sir?
04:25Oh, I personally believe that when you are engaged in the task, you are so engrossed in it, that you
04:31do not think about the rest of the environment.
04:33That is what is the professionalism of the Indian Air Force.
04:36And when I was doing it, I was doing it as a responsibility that was placed by the entire nation
04:41on my shoulders.
04:43And I will once again say that I consider myself fortunate that I was there, and the nation needed me,
04:48and I was able to succeed with the help of my team, and the blessings of the people of this
04:52country, and the God Almighty.
04:54Oh, absolutely. And sir, does that training, does that experience, 39 years, does that help in your new task?
05:05I would presume so, because I believe that the managerial principles remain universal.
05:13We need to modify them depending upon the situation on ground at that time, whether it be corporate, television and
05:19media, military, or for that matter, an organization of the importance of Srinam Temple.
05:25And I intend to put in my best effort and my best foot forward, with the assistance of the trust,
05:33and with the help of my team.
05:34And I am very sure that we will succeed with the blessings of Lord Rama.
05:38Oh, absolutely. With the blessings of, you know, Maryadapur Sottam Sri Ram, the Divya Bhavya Ram Temple, that the entire
05:47nation waited for for over 500 years.
05:49Now, one more question that I would want to ask you, sir.
05:53Now, you know, the difficulties that the trust has faced in the past, the allegations of daan embezzlement.
06:02How will you restore that faith and that trust, sir, in due process?
06:08Gaurav, as you know, that I have not yet taken over as CEO. I have just gone through the selection
06:12process.
06:13Though I have familiarized myself and am confident that I will be able to handle the responsibilities of the CEO.
06:19So far as the strategy for the future is good, I look forward to the guidance of the trust and
06:24the support of my team.
06:26I cannot make a strategy on my own, nor can I run it.
06:29I will have to have the guidance of the trust and the support of my team to, first of all,
06:33plan a strategy and then execute it.
06:36And I have full faith that Ram will be able to give me this task.
06:42Ram doesn't work, it doesn't happen on his desire.
06:46So, when anything that I get, it is not my desire, nor anyone else's desire.
07:12Now viewers, when we speak of the new Chief Executive Officer of the Ram Madhya Temple Trust,
07:19let's take a look at his profile, who is Air Marshal Jitendra Mishra, of course, retired Air Marshal that is.
07:27He's the first Chief Executive Officer of the Ram Madhya Trust,
07:32because remember, this post has been created after the entirety of the controversy that blew up with regards to the
07:40donation theft case.
07:41Now, he's retired from the Air Force in April 2026, just earlier this year.
07:47He is the former Chief of the Western Air Command, led the very Western Air Command during Operation Sindhu.
07:54He was a hero for the country in that very, leading that very operation for us.
08:01Served in the Indian Air Force for nearly 40 long years, has over 3,000 hours of flying experience,
08:10fighter combat leader and test pilot as well.
08:13He's worked on Su-30, MKI, Block 4 project,
08:18and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal awardee as well.
08:24So he's a distinguished officer,
08:26and one with several accolades and big operations to his name.
08:33One such example being in the recent past as we speak.
08:39That is the new CEO for you.
08:42Now, but what lies before him?
08:44There is a mammoth task that he has before him as he takes up this very role.
08:51Number one in that entire list of priorities,
08:54the biggest challenge at this given point is,
08:57with the amount of conversation that's gone ahead with this donation theft case,
09:03it will be to restore the devotees' trust after the Chandachori.
09:08For the devotees to be able to come in with their faith and make donations,
09:14and even just to come in and be sure that they are back in a place of faith and astha.
09:21That in itself is a major challenge for the CEO at this given point of time.
09:27Challenge number two.
09:29Make sure that the donations are safe,
09:31or the entirety of the process,
09:33which in fact came out to reveal several loopholes within it,
09:38and how the entire operation of theft was being held,
09:42was in fact being executed,
09:44that needs to be monitored.
09:46It needs to be made a foolproof system at this given point of time.
09:51Challenge number three would of course be,
09:54to bring transparency in the temple finances,
09:58to ensure that the entirety of the money,
10:01or whatever cash or kind that comes in as donations,
10:05in good faith from devotees,
10:08and even other transactions related to the temple in general,
10:13all of that takes place in nothing but a transparent manner.
10:17Challenge number four.
10:19To tighten the CCTV and the security system.
10:22That is one major particular area,
10:24which came out to completely fall apart,
10:28when the investigation was happening,
10:30as to how is it,
10:31that such an elaborate,
10:35entire scheme,
10:36of how the money was being embezzled,
10:40from the temple donation chambers,
10:43to outside the temple premises,
10:46there was a lack of proper CCTV in place,
10:51which came out to be highlighted later in the probe.
10:54Challenge number five.
10:56Better crowd management for the devotees as well.
10:58Yes, that again comes in more in the sense of an operation of the temple,
11:04how the temple is being operated.
11:06But all of the others,
11:08the other four factors that we have brought to you,
11:12they remain to be a mammoth task at this given point,
11:14especially the one where he has to restore the trust of the devotees,
11:18and devotees not just in India,
11:19but worldwide at this given point,
11:21whoever come in to Rama.