RSS team visits IIM Bangalore as a part of ‘jan sampark’ programme

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore which is frequented by management experts, corporates and academics recently had some unique visitors: A team from the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh ( RSS) led by its national communications head who is also one of its top 25 office-bearers.

The RSS team called on the director, Prof. Sushil Vachani, to ‘understand’ the activities of the institute better and to apprise it of the Sangh’s social work. The team was led by Aniruddha Deshpande the RSS Akhil Bhartiya Sampark Pramukh.

Deshpande confirmed to ET that he had met the IIM director last week as part of usual ‘jan sampark’ activities of the RSS ‘Public Relations’ department. “Three, four of us met the IIM Bangalore director it was not a team.
This was just about getting to known the institute and its activities and apprise it of our activities as a social organisation. There was no special agenda or anything. Nor do we want anything in return. We keep meeting eminent people and also engage with educational institutes,” Deshpande told ET.

Deshpande visited IIT Delhi last year and has been engaging with vicechancellors from different universities. RSS teams have been visiting other institutes as well and are trying to engage with heads of these institutes in a bid to ‘correct the narrative’ built around the Sangh and also to sensitise them about its work.

“I visited IIT Delhi last year. We have also met the vice-chancellors of different universities in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.

Going to educational institutions is just to understand what they are doing, the programmes being conducted and for getting students response.

We also meet doctors, lawyers, college principals, heads of Rotary and Lions clubs and even editors as part of our efforts at Jan Sampark—to reach out to people from all walks of life”, Deshpande added.

IIM Bangalore confirmed to ET that a meeting was recently held between the Director and Prof Aniruddha Deshpande where a range of issues were discussed.

“Yes, Professor Aniruddha Deshpande met with the IIMB Director, Dr. Sushil Vachani, and a few faculty members involved in entrepreneurship and social impact initiatives, recently. We discussed what IIMB does in the area of social impact.... As an Institute of Excellence, we at IIMB often host delegates and visitors from India and abroad with whom we share our experience with best practices and new initiatives”, IIM Bangalore Director’s office said in response to ET queries.

The IIM added that in the meeting with Despande, issues discussed were its Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) programme to make top quality education accessible to all and provide training for livelihood entrepreneurs, the institute’s tele-education project that reaches nearly 200,000 school children in 1000 schools in rural backward regions in Karnataka.

“We had a discussion about the NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), our incubation centre, and the vibrant ecosystem it provides to support and nurture early stage entrepreneurs”, the IIM has said in its response.