‘No demand from us to lift curbs on govt staff… issue not part of meetings’: RSS leaders on govt order

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which deals with issues related to Central government personnel, issued the order on government officials’ participation in RSS activities on July 9, stating that instructions issued in this regard in 1966, 1970 and 1980 “have been reviewed and it has been decided to remove the mention of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)” from the impugned Official Memorandums.

The DoPT, which was part of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs until 1998, functions directly under Prime Minister Narendra Modi now as the Cabinet minister concerned.

Incidentally, all previous instructions recognising the RSS as a “political” organisation included a mention of the Jamaat-e-Islami – but not the July 9 one removing it.

It was in 1964 that the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules and All India Services Conduct Rules stated 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”. After this, several applications were moved seeking a clarification regarding the status of RSS activities under these rules.

In 1966, a Ministry of Home Affairs circular said that “certain doubts” have been raised about the policy with respect to the membership of or participation in the activities of the RSS and the Jamaat-e-Islami by government servants. “It is clarified that (the) Government (has) always held the activities of these two organisations to be of such nature that participation in them by Government servants would attract the provisions of sub-rule (1) of Rule 5″ of the conduct rules, and that such officials would be “liable to disciplinary action”.

Further, the brochure of rules for appointment to civil services and government posts warns against “participation in activities of communal organisations (including front organisations)”, saying those who do this may be considered undesirable for government employment.

In July 1970, the Union Home Ministry reiterated curbs on political activities (of government employees), while during the Emergency 1975-77, circulars were issued for action against workers of the RSS and Jamaat-e-Islami, apart from Anand Marg and CPI (ML) Liberation, as their activities were banned during this period.

In October 1980, with Indira Gandhi back as PM, the government issued a circular again reiterating the 1966 restrictions and stating: “In the context of the current situation in the country, the need to ensure a secular outlook on the part of Government servants is all the more important… no patronage whatsoever should be extended to any communal organisation… Any disregard… should be considered as a serious act of indiscipline.”

This did not change despite power changing hands several times after that, to parties with different political affiliations, including the first BJP government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

On November 27, 2014, six months after coming to power with an absolute majority, the Narendra Modi government amended the conduct rules to add a few clauses, including one saying: “Every government employee shall at all times maintain political neutrality.”

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat faced questions around this time on whether he was going to seek lifting of restrictions on government employees joining Sangh activities. At a meeting in Hardwar on December 1, 2014, Bhagwat said: “Hum sarkaar se koi maang nahin karne jaa rahe. Hum apna kaam kar rahe hain. Hamara kaam aise kisee avrodhon se nahin rukta (We are not going to demand anything from the government in this regard. We are doing our work. Our work is never affected by such restrictions).”

Asked about the July 9 government notification lifting the curbs on government staff joining RSS activities, its Prachar Pramukh Sunil Ambekar said, “The decision is appropriate and will strengthen the democratic system of Bharat.”