Modi government has overturned former late PM Indira Gandhi's 58-year-old decision and lifted the ban on government employees to participate in RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) activities. The meaning of the decision is that from the secretaries to the clerks of the central government, can now say on record that they are also volunteers. They can say without hesitation that they get inspiration to do good for the country from the Sangh.
The ban was imposed by the Indira Gandhi government of Congress in 1966. There was a written condition in it that employees could not join RSS. The DoPT department of the Center cancelled this condition on July 9. Indira's decision was revoked by the Janata Party government in 1977. But after returning to power in 1980, Indira implemented it again. Terms and conditions were laid down that joining the union by the employee would be a violation of the service rules.
Since independence, Congress governments have banned the Sangh thrice. All three times it had to be lifted. However, the ban on government employees from joining the Sangh has been in place since 1966. The opposition is agitated as it believes Modi has lifted the ban to end the tension with the Sangh. The ban has been lifted at a time when the government is already facing allegations of placing Sanghi bureaucrats in every constitutional institution.
- RSS is not just the country's largest social-cultural organization, it is the world's largest.
- The Sangh has branches in 99 per cent of India.
- By March 2024, the Sangh had 73,000 branches in the country.
- In 10 years, the Sangh's branches have increased by 31,000 in the country.
