Centre removes decades-old ban on government staff joining RSS (Scroll)

By Scroll Staff

A 58-year-old ban on government employees being members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was lifted by the Centre earlier this month.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindutva group, is the parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It has been banned three times since Independence. Critics say it promotes Hindu supremacy and intolerance of minorities.

Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera shared on social media an office memorandum issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on July 9, concerning the “participation of the government servants in the activities of RSS”.

The document referred to earlier office memoranda on the subject that were issued on November 30, 1966, July 25, 1970, and October 28, 1980.

“The aforesaid instructions were reviewed and it was decided to remove the mention of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (R.S.S.S)” from the impugned memoranda, the document shared by the Congress leaders stated.

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