ASI not toeing 'Hindutva' ideology: Union culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

The government on Monday rejected allegations that the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) is toeing the line of Hindutva ideology and asserted that the Narendra Modi government is working on the philosophy of "sabka saath, sabka vikas" without giving privileges to any particular community. Responding to a supplementary by AIMIM's Assadudin Owaisi in Lok Sabha that ASI needs to be "detoxified" for following "Hindutva" ideology, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said perhaps certain privileges were granted in the past keeping vote bank politics in mind. It is not the case since the Modi government came to power over 10 years ago, he added.

He asserted that the government was working with the philosophy of "sabka saath, sabka vikas".

The minister said perhaps after privileges were withdrawn, some people may feel a lack of absence of such a treatment.