Transforming lives of the modern urban women, professionals and those staying at home thereby co-opting them into the RSS fold, has become the mission of the volunteers of the `Rashtra Sevika Samiti’— a parallel wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), run by and for women.
Venkatramaiah Shantha Kumari, the current chief of the `Sevika Samiti’ told The Hindu that the organisation— founded by Lakshmibai Kelkar in 1936— had taken up the challenge of marking its presence among female professionals like doctors, teachers, engineers, chartered accountants, and those working in MNCs. Apart from the traditional RSS “socialisation” of physical training and games, the `Sevika Samiti Shakhas’ also hold `prabuddha’ (intellectual) meetings to discuss the challenges women face in running the families parallelly with their jobs.
This was a catchment area of influence that had turned politically significant in the last few years, with voting trends in successive elections showing that women’s support had been important in the mandates received by political parties like the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the Janata Dal (U) and the BJP.
A group of women between the age group of 10 to 60 gathered at a park in West Delhi on a sunny Sunday morning, to organise a ‘shakha’. After conducting games and yoga, a discussion on issues affecting women, especially with regard to motherhood, work-life balance, live-in relationships and integrating families, was held at the fag end of the one-hour session.
This story was originally published in thehindu.com . Read the full story here
