The BJP-led Union government, on Monday, July 22, revoked the 58-year-old GO which prevented government employees from being associated with the party’s ideological parent organisation—Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). While the BJP leaders have been quick to praise the move, the Opposition has slammed the Union government saying that the BJP intends to take over institutional and constitutional posts by recruiting members of the RSS.
The official notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on July 9, said, “…it has been decided to remove the mention of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (R.S.S.S) from the impugned OMs dated 30.11.1966, 25.07.1970 and 28.10.1980.”
The first such order came in 1966 which forbade government employees from being associated either with the RSS or the Jamaat-e-Islami. The argument the then Union government made was this: “As certain doubts have been raised about government’s policy with respect to the membership of any participation in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Jamaat-e-Islami by government servants, it is clarified that the government have always held the activities of these two organisations to be of such a nature that participation in them by Government servants would attract the provisions of sub-rule (1) of Rule 5 of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rule, 1964.”
The Rule and clause states that, “No Government servant shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics nor shall he take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner, any political movement or activity.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharage said in a statement that, “On this day in 1947, India adopted its national flag. RSS opposed the tricolour, and Sardar Patel had warned them against it. Sardar Patel had also banned RSS after Gandhiji’s assassination on February 4, 1948 … We know how BJP is using RSS to institutionally take over all Constitutional & autonomous bodies. By lifting the ban on government employees from participating in RSS activities, Modi wants to politicise government offices and employees on ideological basis. This will be a challenge to the sense of neutrality of public servants in government offices and the supremacy of the Constitution.”
Reacting to the development, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said, “Now bureaucrats can come in knickers”, referring to the khaki shorts worn by RSS members. He added, “In 1966, a ban was imposed — and rightly so — on government employees taking part in RSS activities. After June 4th 2024, relations between the self-anointed non-biological PM and the RSS have nosedived. On July 9, 2024, the 58-year ban that was in force even during Mr. Vajpayee’s tenure as PM was removed. The bureaucracy can now come in knickers too I suppose.”
Meanwhile, the RSS and BJP leaders have welcomed the move. Sunil Ambekar, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh of the RSS told ANI, “For the last 99 years, we have been continuously engaged in various works of nation building and social service...Due to political interests, the then government had imposed a ban on government employees from participating in the work of the Sangh, which was baseless." He also claimed that the move would "strengthen democracy.”
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal also welcomed the move. Speaking to media persons, he claimed that the 1966 Congress government was “anti-national” and “anti-patriotic”. He further added that the RSS is “patriotic body, which is a cultural body whose every worker is full of a sense of patriotism.”