Saurabh Mukherjee
A purported government order has surfaced on social media indicating that the Narendra Modi government recently lifted the decades-long ban on central government employees participating in activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
A July 9 notification signed by the deputy secretary to the Union government removed the RSS's name from the memorandum that had previously prohibited all government employees from affiliating with the right-wing Hindutva organization. However, the authenticity of the document could not be verified.
A copy of the document from the Department of Personnel and Training, a division under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, indicated the removal of the RSS from previous memorandums. However, The Crossbill could not locate the order on the department's website.
“The aforesaid instructions have been reviewed and it has been decided to remove the mention of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (R.S.S.S) from the impugned OMs dated 30.11.1966, 25.07.1970 and 28.10.1980,” the document read.
Congress general secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh, while sharing the picture of the memorandum on X, wrote, “Sardar Patel had banned the RSS in February 1948 following Gandhi ji’s assassination. Subsequently, the ban was withdrawn on assurances of good behaviour. Even after this the RSS never flew the Tiranga in Nagpur.”
Along with the picture of the order, Ramesh also shared a screenshot of the original order dated November 30, 1966, which banned the association of government servants with the activities of the RSS and the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Amit Malviya, the head of Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) IT department, shared a screenshot of the order, highlighting that the Modi government has withdrawn a directive deemed unconstitutional and issued 58 years ago.
“The unconstitutional order issued 58 years ago, in 1966, imposing a ban on Govt employees taking part in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been withdrawn by the Modi Govt. The original order shouldn’t have been passed in the first place,” Malviya wrote on X.
In an sarcastic post on X, Congress leader Pawan Khera, wrote, “Just another sample of either innocent or wilful ignorance. Here in the 1966 order, the two organisations were RSSS & Jamat e Islami. But how do you educate people who think there’s no role of milk in the preparation of Ghee.”
In 2000, during Keshubhai Patel's tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat, the BJP-led state government lifted the ban on state government employees participating in activities associated with the RSS.
In 2021, the ML Khattar-led government also scrapped the law that had previously restricted state government employees from joining or being associated with the RSS.
During Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure, on November 30, 1966, government employees were forbidden from joining the RSS or Jamaat-e-Islami under Service (Conduct) Rules by the Union Home Ministry. The government perceived these organizations not merely as cultural or social entities. Although the ban was briefly lifted in 1975, it was reimposed in 1980.
A July 9 notification signed by the deputy secretary to the Union government removed the RSS's name from the memorandum that had previously prohibited all government employees from affiliating with the right-wing Hindutva organization. However, the authenticity of the document could not be verified.
A copy of the document from the Department of Personnel and Training, a division under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, indicated the removal of the RSS from previous memorandums. However, The Crossbill could not locate the order on the department's website.
“The aforesaid instructions have been reviewed and it has been decided to remove the mention of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (R.S.S.S) from the impugned OMs dated 30.11.1966, 25.07.1970 and 28.10.1980,” the document read.
Congress general secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh, while sharing the picture of the memorandum on X, wrote, “Sardar Patel had banned the RSS in February 1948 following Gandhi ji’s assassination. Subsequently, the ban was withdrawn on assurances of good behaviour. Even after this the RSS never flew the Tiranga in Nagpur.”
Along with the picture of the order, Ramesh also shared a screenshot of the original order dated November 30, 1966, which banned the association of government servants with the activities of the RSS and the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Amit Malviya, the head of Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) IT department, shared a screenshot of the order, highlighting that the Modi government has withdrawn a directive deemed unconstitutional and issued 58 years ago.
“The unconstitutional order issued 58 years ago, in 1966, imposing a ban on Govt employees taking part in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been withdrawn by the Modi Govt. The original order shouldn’t have been passed in the first place,” Malviya wrote on X.
In an sarcastic post on X, Congress leader Pawan Khera, wrote, “Just another sample of either innocent or wilful ignorance. Here in the 1966 order, the two organisations were RSSS & Jamat e Islami. But how do you educate people who think there’s no role of milk in the preparation of Ghee.”
In 2000, during Keshubhai Patel's tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat, the BJP-led state government lifted the ban on state government employees participating in activities associated with the RSS.
In 2021, the ML Khattar-led government also scrapped the law that had previously restricted state government employees from joining or being associated with the RSS.
During Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure, on November 30, 1966, government employees were forbidden from joining the RSS or Jamaat-e-Islami under Service (Conduct) Rules by the Union Home Ministry. The government perceived these organizations not merely as cultural or social entities. Although the ban was briefly lifted in 1975, it was reimposed in 1980.
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