‘God chose me for the post’ : New Ram temple trust member Nirmala Yadav

Newly appointed member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Dr Nirmala Yadav, on Thursday said she believed God had chosen her for the post and expressed her readiness to discharge the responsibility with “dedication, hard work and honesty”.

The temple trust on Wednesday appointed retired Air Marshal Jitendra Mishra as its first chief executive officer and inducted three new trustees — Yadav, an educationist, advocate Madan Mohan Pandey and businessman-social worker Mahesh Bhagchandka.

The three trustee posts fell vacant following the death of Bimlendra Mohan Mishra last year and the resignations of former general secretary Champat Rai and Anil Mishra amid the controversy over alleged theft of temple donations.

Speaking to PTI Videos, Yadav said her selection from across the country was a sign that she had been chosen by God.

“I will say only this — I was chosen from across the country, which is a sign that God has chosen me. Nothing is possible without His vision and grace. No one else has any role in my selection. God’s grace has remained upon my family and me,” she said.

Yadav also described her appointment as a representation of “Matri Shakti” (women power).

On her new responsibility as a trustee, she said she would work with complete dedication without compromising on her principles.

“Be it the administration, arrangements, facilities or security, I will give my suggestions for whatever improvements are possible and will try to make the arrangements better,” she said.

“Now that the call from Ram Lala has come, I have to work with complete dedication,” she added.

A former principal and educationist, Yadav said she had been associated with educational and social organisations for decades.

She said her parents, Mahavir Singh Yadav and Rajwati, were no more, while her father-in-law, Surya Kumar Yadav, a former major, had been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) after his retirement.

“My family gradually became associated with the Sangh. I was introduced to several RSS and Bajrang Dal functionaries who used to visit my family after my marriage in 1983,” she said.

Yadav said she later became involved in educational activities and worked with Saraswati Shishu Mandirs. Her daughter was among the first students of Balika Vidya Mandir in Shikohabad, which later grew into an intermediate college.

Yadav joined BDM Municipal Girls' College in Shikohabad as a lecturer in 1987 and became its principal in 1999. In 2006, she took charge as principal of Mahatma Gandhi PG College in Firozabad, where she retired in 2022.

Yadav also recalled her association with the Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh, which she joined in 1999 after being introduced to its functionary Om Pal Singh.

She served as the organisation's vice-president and state president from 2019 to 2022. She is currently associated with its working council and holds the position of all-India Sah Sampark Pramukh.

Yadav also served for two years as a governor-nominated member of the executive council of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Agra.