RSS relief efforts in Nepal face policy hurdle

While RSS is collecting donations for the relief work, the flow of this fund to their workers in Nepal is going to be affected by Nepal government’s policy.

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Shyam Parande, one of those co-ordinating the relief work from Delhi, told The Indian Express: “Yes we are facing some problem. But we are in constant touch with Nepal authorities and our government to sort things out.”

RSS sah-sarkaryawah (joint general Secretary) Dattatreya Hosabale, who is in Nepal to monitor the relief work, on Tuesday met Nepal Prime Minister in this regard.

RSS leaders are also pursuing the matter through Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj.

“Nepal government machinery is yet to reach several affected areas in interior of the country. Our work is getting affected because of their single window policy,” said an RSS functionary.

One of the dozen RSS pracharaks working in Nepal said, “We have to sort out the issue because Nepal government agencies require sufficient support to handle relief and rehabilitation work.”

Also, Nepal authorities did not allow blankets and tarpaulin to be sent by cargo. The RSS sent this material by the land route where authorities, they said, are “co-operative”. Most of its 15-truck material was sent to Nepal through its base camp at Raxaul in Bihar’s East Champaran district.

Senior RSS pracharak Subedar Singh, working in Dharm Jagran Samiti, is co-ordinating relief work from the Bihar. Singh, who was among the first to reach Nepal after the earthquake, told The Indian Express, “Government agencies are focusing on Kathmandu, but we have moved our swayamsevaks to rural areas where we have good access.”

Initially, there was a demand of doctors so RSS mobilised a team of around 20 doctors from Varanasi and an equal number from Haryana.

Later, they were informed of a need for medicines and other medical equipment. On Wednesday, medicines of around Rs 3 lakh were sent from Delhi.

The RSS has also asked pharmaceutical firms in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to donate medicines for the cause.

RSS operates in Nepal by the name of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh which, it claims, has over 150 shakhas across the country. Its other affiliates working in Nepal are Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Jan Kalyan Pratisthan and ABVP branch Pragyik Vidyarthi Parishad.

Sources from the organisation said while around 400 local workers have joined relief operations, around 200 have reached Nepal from India, particularly from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand. RSS is also planning to launch yearlong rehabilitation work in the quake-hit country.