Centre lifts ban on Govt staff joining RSS activities

New Delhi: Amid murmurs of uneasiness between the RSS and BJP post the Lok Sabha polls, the recent order of the Centre lifting a ban on public servants from participating in the activities of the Sangh is seen as an attempt by the BJP-led Union government to improve the equations between the two.

The July 9 order, issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, stated that instructions issued in this regard in 1966, 1970 and 1980 "have been reviewed and it has been decided to remove the mention of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)" from the impugned official memorandums.

Welcoming the move, RSS chief spokesperson Sunil Ambekar termed the decision as "appropriate" that "strengthens the democratic system of India." Sangh has been continuously involved in the reconstruction of the nation and service to the society for the last 99 years, he added.


"Due to the contribution of the Sangh in national security, unity-integrity and taking the society along during times of natural disaster, various types of leadership of the country have also praised the role of the Sangh from time to time.

"Due to its political interests, the then government had baselessly banned the government employees from participating in the activities of a constructive organisation like the Sangh," the RSS statement said.

There have been multiple instances of the government barring employees in the past from associating with the Sangh.

Sources in the Sangh said the organisation had not made any demand for lifting of the ban.

Within Sangh circles, the order is seen as an attempt to improve the equations between the BJP and RSS not thought to be at their best during the Lok Sabha polls and after the results.

Sources also mentioned that a senior Sangh functionary, not holding any post in the RSS hierarchy at present, worked to improve the equations between the Sangh and the BJP.

Sources in the Union government said this order was necessitated as a legal case was being heard in the Indore court regarding this.

Meanwhile, BJP has also hailed the order with Union minister Piyush Goyal saying that the Congress government's decision in 1966 to ban government employees from attending RSS activities was driven by political reasons.

The Congress has always had a negative mindset for nationalist organisatons, and such a thinking has no place in the country, he told reporters.

Opposition parties, which have criticised the Modi government's decision to lift the ban, were only interested in appeasement politics and have displayed a negative attitude to Hindus, he claimed.