Bhubaneswar: Due to the hard work and continuous efforts of the Swayamsevaks and the compatibility of the society, the work of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is continuously expanding, this was stated by RSS Sah Sarkaryavah (Joint General Secretary) Dr Manmohan Vaidya at the start of the three day RSS executive board meeting that began at Bhubaneshwar in Odisha.
Giving details of the deliberations at the three day meeting of the RSS executive board to newspersons here, the RSS Joint General Secretary stated that especially youth and students are joining the Sangh in large numbers now.
Replying to queries over the construction of Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya, Dr Vaidya argued that was not a political issue, but a matter of faith of the country. Similarly, on the question of removing Article 370 from Kashmir, he said that the Constitution mentioned it as a temporary provision. When asked about people of national views are being killed in West Bengal, the RSS joint general secretary termed it as unfortunate.
He said that the Sangh believes that the government will not do everything. The society itself has to come forward and do its work. In this spirit, the volunteers of the Sangh are active in the work of social change. The result of village development starting in 1998 is being seen in many villages. He said that the Sangh volunteers are working to overcome the caste to caste bondage in the society and to create social harmony.
The Swayamsevaks of the Sangh are also working for the promotion of cows of Indian breeds. He said that due to increase in the prevalence of single family in the society, there is erosion of values in the families. For this reason, the work of family management is being done by the volunteers of the Sangh. He said that in order to protect the environment, the volunteers of the Sangh are engaged in the work of bringing awareness about the three P’s that is planting trees, less use of water and not using plastic.
Dr. Vaidya informed that at present 57, 411 daily branches and 18,923 weekly meetings are going on in the whole country. In the year 2009 a plan was made to expand the work of the Sangh. Due to this, the Shakha’s have been continuously expanding since 2010. After 2010, there has been a total increase of 19,584 Shakha’s. From 2010 to 2014 there was an increase of about 6,000 Shakha’s all over the country. He said that in 6,000 blocks across the country, the work of the Sangh has reached in 90 percent of these blocks. He said that out of the total Shakha’s running across the country, the number of Shakha’s of students and youth is 60 percent, the percentage of Shakha volunteers in the age group of 20 to 40 years is 29 percent. The number of branches of adult people above the age of 40 years is 11 percent.
The RSS joint general secretary further disclosed that the RSS in 2013 started the Online registration. He said that a large number of people are requesting to join the Sangh and the maximum number is that of youth and students. In the year 2013 itself, 88,843 requests were received to join the Sangh. From 2014 to 2016, on an average 90,000 to 95,000 people have made requests to join the Sangh, the figure in 2017 was 1.25 lakh, 1.05 lakh in 2018 and 1.03 lakh by September in 2019.
Dr Vaidya stated that emphasis is also being laid on training of Sangh cadres and cadre development classes are being organized. How the training can be improved in these classes and how to add value to it will also be discussed in the meeting. He said that province level officials from all the provinces of the country are attending the meeting of the All India Executive Board. About 350 delegates are attending the three-day meeting. The All India Publicity Head of the Sangh Arun Kumar and the Co-Chief of Publicity Narendra Thakur were also present.
