Ayodhya Mandir: Split wide open among different mahants, Akharas

New Delhi, Nov 13: Mahants and sadhus connected with the Ayodhya Ram temple movement have expressed differing views over the composition of the trust for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya to be set up by the union government.

President of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Mahant Nritya Gopal Das said there is no need for forming a new trust by the government as one trust (Nyas) already exists for the construction of Ram temple.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas is run by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, in a statement, said: "The trust (Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas) already exists, we can give a big shape to it, new members would be added as per need."

Mahant Suresh Das, mahant of Digambar Akhara, who has a long association with the Ram temple movement, said: "The court has very clearly said that the new trust is to be formed and it is the responsibility of the Union government to form the Trust, not of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, though representatives of Nyas should be in the Trust "

Mahant Dinendra Das the chief of Nirmohi Akhara, whose claim was turned down by the apex court, said the government must take representatives of the Nirmohi Akhara in the trust. "The trust must be formed as per the directions of the Court," Das said, adding, "the court has clearly mentioned that a new trust has to be formed by the government."

Dinendra Das, however, expressed his reservations over joining a government trust. He said: "Our Nirmohi Akhara is also a trust, so our trust members will decide on joining a government trust."

Triloki Nath Pandey, who represented the deity, Lord Rama, in court as "friend of Ram Lalla" and won the title, said: "The trust must be formed by the government and must have members from the government."

He said: "The government should appoint Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, president of VHP's Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas as president of the government's trust."

Pandey said, "The grand Ram temple must be build according to the model that was proposed by VHP and all the carved stones prepared by VHP must be used in the construction of Ram Mandir."

"The government, after forming the trust, must raise the funds for construction from the Hindu community, as it should not pour government money into the fund," said Pandey.

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Average age of school children picking up drugs, smoking habit in 10 Indian cities around 13 years!

News Network

December 13,2025

New Delhi: School-going children are picking up drug and smoking habits and engaging in consumption of alcohol, with the average age of introduction to such harmful substances found to be around 13 years, suggesting a need for earlier interventions as early as primary school, a multi-city survey by AIIMS-Delhi said.

The findings also showed substance use increased in higher grades, with grade XI/XII students two times more likely to report use of substances when compared with grade VIII students. This emphasised the importance of continued prevention and intervention through middle and high school.

The study led by Dr Anju Dhawan of AIIMS's National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, published in the National Medical Journal of India this month, looks at adolescent substance use across diverse regions.

The survey included 5,920 students from classes 8, 9, 11 and 12 in urban government, private and rural schools across 10 cities -- Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jammu, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Ranchi. The data were collected between May 2018 and June 2019.

The average age of initiation for any substance was 12.9 (2.8) years. It was lowest for inhalants (11.3 years) followed by heroin (12.3 years) and opioid pharmaceuticals (without prescription; 12.5 years).

Overall, 15.1 per cent of participants reported lifetime use, 10.3 per cent reported past year use, and 7.2 per cent reported use in the past month of any substance, the study found.

The most common substances used in the past year, after tobacco (4 per cent) and alcohol (3.8 per cent), were opioids (2.8 per cent), followed by cannabis (2 per cent) and inhalants (1.9 per cent). Use of non-prescribed pharmaceutical opioids was most common among opioid users (90.2 per cent).

On being asked, 'Do you think this substance is easily available for a person of your age' separately for each substance category, nearly half the students (46.3 per cent) endorsed that tobacco products and more than one-third of the students (36.5 per cent) agreed that a person of their age can easily procure alcohol products.

Similarly, for Bhang (21.9 per cent), ganja/charas (16.1 per cent), inhalants (15.2 per cent), sedatives (13.7 per cent), opium and heroin (10 per cent each), the students endorsed that these can be easily procured.

About 95 per cent of the children, irrespective of their grade, agreed with the statement that 'drug use is harmful'.

The rates of substance use (any) among boys were significantly higher than those of girls for substance use (ever), use in the past year and use in the past 30 days. Compared to grade VIII students, grade IX students were more likely, and grade XI/XII students were twice as likely to have used any substance (ever).

The likelihood of past-year use of any substance was also higher for grade IX students and for grade XI/XII students as compared to grade VIII students.

About 40 per cent of students mentioned that they had a family member who used tobacco or alcohol each. The use of cannabis (any product) and opioid (any product) by a family member was reported by 8.2 per cent and 3.9 per cent of students, respectively, while the use of other substances, such as inhalants/sedatives by family was 2-3 per cent, the study found.

A relatively smaller percentage of students reported use of tobacco or alcohol among peers as compared to among family members, while a higher percentage reported inhalants, sedatives, cannabis or opioid use among peers.

Children using substances (past year) compared to non-users reported significantly higher any substance use by their family members and peers.

There were 25.7 per cent students who replied 'yes' to the question 'conflicts/fights often occur in your family'. Most students also replied affirmatively to 'family members are aware of how their time is being spent' and 'damily members are aware of with whom they spend their time'.

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