CEO in Kedarnath
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. 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.
“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. I don’t go to the media telling them that I am looking after a temple,” Mishra said. 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.
“Looking after a temple is my dharma. He added that seeking publicity for such work reflected a flawed mindset. During his two-day stay in Ayodhya, he was provided accommodation and also visited Shree Ram Lalla temple for darshan.
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.