RSS members to don new uniform from Vijaya Dashami

Members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will start wearing brown trousers from Vijaya Dashami this year. RSS Sanghchalak (Konkan region) Satish Modh said the Sangh members would start wearing trousers in place of Khaki shorts from Vijaya Dashami, which falls in October this year.

Khaki shorts, the trademark RSS dress for 91 years, are on their way out and making way for brown trousers as part of the organisation's landmark endeavour to "move with the times". Even though other parts of the uniform have been changed from time to time, khaki shorts remained in vogue till now.

The decision to phase out khaki shorts was taken at Rajasthan's Nagaur during the annual meeting of Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the highest decision-making body of RSS.

Over the rapid expansion of RSS, Modh said the organization has 56,959 shakhas in the country, of which over 5,500 were added in last one year. There are 625 shakhas in Mumbai-Konkan region, Modh said. When asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity was the reason behind this rise in number of shakhas, Modh said, "It cannot be denied that the present atmosphere is favourable. However, Modi is not the sole reason for it. The government was formed in 2014, but the change had started way back in 2012."

Modh reasoned that people's realisation of value of RSS, its perseverance and hard work led to the rise in shakha numbers.