5 min readJul 29, 2026 05:02 PM IST First published on: Jul 29, 2026 at 05:02 PM ISTWe are a deeply religious people. Yet our temples are, unfortunately, often mismanaged. An average citizen goes to a temple for divine blessings, peace of mind and spiritual rejuvenation. But, in fact, it is a struggle to get a darshan of the deity, and the paramount anxiety is to reach the sanctum sanctorum and come out safely from there. Then some pandas extort a hefty fee for “facilitation”. Along the way, there are idols kept at different places where you must also make offerings. At the end of it, you thank your stars that you managed to get the darshan.Crowd management in the temples leaves much to be desired. Now and then, we hear about stampedes and people getting killed. In 2008, in Jodhpur, 224 people died at the Chamunda Devi mandir. In 2022, 12 persons were crushed to death at Vaishno Devi. In 2024, 121 people perished at a satsang in Hathras and, in 2025, six lives were lost at Tirupati.AdvertisementWhat is worse, we have disturbing reports about misappropriation of gold, silver and cash from the temples. At Tirupati, prasad made in allegedly adulterated ghee was distributed. In Sabarimala, gold cladding was removed from the Dwarapalakas and Peedams and replaced with gold-plated copper. Now, there has been the disgraceful incident of donations by devotees being misappropriated by the temple staff at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya; some gold and silver jewellery was also reported missing. The temple was inaugurated in 2024 with much fanfare by the Prime Minister.Also Read | BJP’s missing diagnosis: Why couldn’t the Sangh Parivar hear the young?The Uttar Pradesh state government promptly constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a Commissioner to inquire into the incident. It is difficult to understand why the SIT was led by an IAS officer. Powers of investigation under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 are vested in a police officer. An inquiry could be conducted by any officer, but an investigation is the exclusive domain of a police officer. Taking a charitable view, the state government had constituted perhaps a Special Inquiry (and not investigation) Team. The SIT found glaring irregularities in the procedures being followed for the collection, counting and deposit of the donations. Based on its report, an FIR was registered and, so far, eight persons have been arrested. However, it seems that the big fish have yet to be accounted for.The Supreme Court has now ordered the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and clarified that it will be headed by a senior police officer. This SIT may want to include a couple of officers from the office of the Comptroller General of India.AdvertisementIn a statement on July 7, the Treasurer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra said that the bureaucrats associated with the Trust and SBI officials were expected to ensure administrative oversight and flag shortcomings before the situation escalated. Earlier, the SIT appointed by the state government had also indicated slackness in supervision.Significantly, Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust included a former principal secretary to the Prime Minister, an additional chief secretary (home), Government of UP, the District Magistrate, Ayodhya and a former additional secretary (home) in the Government of India. If they claim ignorance, it would reflect on their administrative competence. If they knew about the scandal but preferred to keep quiet for any reason, it becomes culpable negligence. In either case, they are accountable.Ayodhya must have a unit of the state intelligence branch. There must also be a local intelligence unit (LIU). What were these units doing? The criminal acts within the temple should have come to their notice. There must be a unit of the Intelligence Bureau also in Ayodhya. Their role will also have to be inquired into. The comprehensive failure of all the agencies is incomprehensible.The investigation of the case is going to be a long-drawn-out process. It is possible that during the investigation some other irregularities or illegalities may also come to notice. Those should also be taken into cognisance by the Supreme Court-constituted SIT.you may likeMeanwhile, the temple management should be reorganised at three layers. The first layer should be formed by the Trust, which should be completely overhauled. This is not to suggest that all the members were involved in the irregularities, but there has been collective failure on their part. The new members, while being pious, should not have any political affiliation. The second is of the persons who should be given responsibility for all the administrative and financial matters related to the temple. And the third layer should be of the police and intelligence officers from the state and central governments who should be entrusted with the security of the temple.What happened at the Ram Temple shocked many Hindus. The sooner their faith is restored by investigative/punitive measures, the better.The writer is a former Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police