LUCKNOW: Responding to questions being raised in social media over his suitability to oversee the work of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, newly appointed CEO and retired Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra asserted that temple administration has long been part of his responsibilities and dismissed criticism of his background.Mishra said that during his tenure as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Air Command, more than 50 sarva dharm sthals located at Air Force bases from Rajasthan to Ladakh were under his patronage. “I have looked after each of them,” he said, adding that managing these pious places was a matter of duty rather than public recognition.Rejecting allegations that a military officer may lack experience in temple affairs, Mishra said his association with temple management was discussed during the CEO selection process. He told the panel that several temples had functioned under his oversight during his Air Force career.“Looking after a temple is my dharma. I don’t go to the media telling them that I am looking after a temple,” Mishra said. He added that seeking publicity for such work reflected a flawed mindset.The retired Air Marshal also highlighted his visits to major pilgrimage centres, including Kedarnath, Rameswaram, Guruvayur and Padmanabhaswamy Temple, while maintaining that religious faith remains a personal matter.Mishra was selected for the top post after a competitive process involving 16 candidates from the IAS, IPS, armed forces and other services.Trust sources told TOI that Mishra visited Ayodhya for the interview on August 10 and after giving face to face interview with selection committee left for Delhi on August 12. During his two-day stay in Ayodhya, he was provided accommodation and also visited Shree Ram Lalla temple for darshan.Positioning his experience as both administrative and spiritual, Mishra said his Air Force journey began with a visit to a temple and concluded with a pilgrimage to Kedarnath.Mishra was among 16 candidates interviewed for the CEO post. The candidates included Ajit Kesari, a retired IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre who served as additional chief secretary; Dr Paresh Saxena, a 1994-batch Bihar-cadre IPS officer; Shubhranshu Mani, former principal chief mechanical engineer of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and a key member of the team that designed and manufactured Train 18, which later became the Vande Bharat Express; Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, special chief secretary in the Andhra Pradesh government who has also served with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD); Col Dr Harindra Tripathi, registrar of IIM Guwahati; Lt Gen (retired) Ajai Kumar Sahgal, consultant with Bharat Dynamics Limited; Kamal Kant Sharma, retired DG of CRPF; and Major General Sanjay Pratapsingh Vishwasrao.The list also included retired Air Marshal Amit Tiwari, formerly associated with Central Air Command and instrumental in the development of the Kaveri engine for the Tejas programme and the Agni missile programme; Dr Dinesh Chandra Mishra, retired special secretary in the PWD; and Shruti Bhardwaj, a 2013-batch promoted IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre who is currently on extension.The other four candidates were former IPS officer Rajesh Kumar Pandey, retired Major General Rajiv Chhibber of the Dogra Regiment, retired Brigadier Satyendra Prasad Sinha and retired Major General Ajay Kumar Sharma.
