The Crossbill News Desk
The government of Rajasthan has lifted a 52-year-old restriction that prohibited government employees from engaging in activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), news agency PTI reported.
The decision follows the Union government's recent action, which, on July 9, removed a similar ban that had been in place since 1966, allowing government servants to join and participate in RSS activities through a new office memorandum.
Following the office memorandum released last month by the Union government's Department of Personnel and Training, the restriction on government employees has now been limited to membership and participation in activities organized by Jamaat-e-Islami.
The memorandum came in response to a plea filed in September 2023 by a retired government employee, Purushottam Guta, challenging the ban, which was under review by the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Later that month, the court observed that the ban on joining the RSS had "diminished" the "aspirations of many central government employees" who wished to serve the country in various capacities.
The high court said, “It took almost five decades for the central government to realise its mistake; to acknowledge that an internationally renowned organisation like RSS was wrongly placed amongst the banned organisations of the country and that its removal therefrom is quintessential,” reported The Hindu.
Although the office memorandum was published on the personnel department's website, the details of the file related to it have been kept confidential.
Several state governments, including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, have already lifted the restrictions on government employees' affiliation with the RSS.
The decision follows the Union government's recent action, which, on July 9, removed a similar ban that had been in place since 1966, allowing government servants to join and participate in RSS activities through a new office memorandum.
Following the office memorandum released last month by the Union government's Department of Personnel and Training, the restriction on government employees has now been limited to membership and participation in activities organized by Jamaat-e-Islami.
The memorandum came in response to a plea filed in September 2023 by a retired government employee, Purushottam Guta, challenging the ban, which was under review by the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Later that month, the court observed that the ban on joining the RSS had "diminished" the "aspirations of many central government employees" who wished to serve the country in various capacities.
The high court said, “It took almost five decades for the central government to realise its mistake; to acknowledge that an internationally renowned organisation like RSS was wrongly placed amongst the banned organisations of the country and that its removal therefrom is quintessential,” reported The Hindu.
Although the office memorandum was published on the personnel department's website, the details of the file related to it have been kept confidential.
Several state governments, including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, have already lifted the restrictions on government employees' affiliation with the RSS.
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