New Delhi, January 15: President Ramnath Kovind on Friday donated Rs 5,01,000 as a contribution towards the construction of Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya. A Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) delegation including its International Working President Alok Kumar, RSS leader Kulbhushan Ahuja, the treasurer of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Trust Govind Dev Giri and temple construction committee head Nripendra Mishra called on the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning.

"This is VHP's campaign initiated to seek a contribution towards the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya cutting across languages, castes, communities and classes," informed a senior VHP member.

Talking about the donation received by VHP from President Kovind, Alok Kumar told ANI, "He is the first citizen of the country. So we went to him to initiate this drive and he met us with his family and donated a sum of Rs 5,01,000 and gave his good wishes for the success of the mission." Army Day 2021 Wishes: President Ram Nath Kovind, PM Narendra Modi, Piyush Goyal & Others Extend Greetings to the Valiant Men & Women of Indian Army.

Talking about the further action plan on the collection of funds for the construction of the temple he said, "In this time we will go to 13,000 families. The initial estimate was Rs 11 crore, now it is Rs 13 crore, which means 65,000 families spread over 5,25,000 villages. So, this is the most comprehensive campaign for the temple and we will unify the country."

Talking to ANI about the availability of contributing to the temple online he responded, "Certainly, that is on the website and even this entire money, most of it is going to be received through cheques. All the money that is collected will be deposited in a bank within 48 hours of the collection.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also donated Rs 1 lakh as a contribution to the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

According to the trust, the temple will be built by adhering to the country's ancient and traditional construction techniques. It will also be built in a manner to sustain earthquakes, storms, and other natural calamities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ayodhya on August 5 to attend the 'Bhoomi pujan' at the Ram Janmbhoomi site.