Government allowing ties of officials with RSS follows court cases in Himachal, M.P.
On July 9, the DoPT stated that instructions were reviewed and it was decided to remove the mention of “Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (R.S.S.S)” from the impugned memoranda
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
| Photo Credit: ANI
A compendium of instructions, part of a set of Rules, which governs the conduct of civil servants across the country is yet to reflect the changes brought in by a July 9 office memorandum that banned government officials from associating with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its activities.
The All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, available on the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), under the head “miscellaneous executive instructions”, mention “ban on participation in certain organisations like R.S.S., Jamat-e-Islami, Anand Marg and CPM(L) etc.”
On July 9, through an office memorandum, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) referring to earlier memoranda issued on November 30, 1966, July 25, 1970, and October 28, 1980, stated that instructions were reviewed and it was decided to remove the mention of “Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (R.S.S.S)” from the impugned memoranda.
The government decision came in the wake of series of petitions filed in courts across the country.
On January 9, the Himachal Pradesh High Court stayed the transfer of Suresh Jaswal, senior manager, Himachal Pradesh Cooperative Bank, who was transferred prematurely on the ground that he is an “active member of RSS.”
In 2017, the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court had dismissed a public interest litigation filed by Democratic Lawyers Forum where it was said that State government officials met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at a guest house in Jabalpur ahead of the civic body elections in January 2015.
The court, while hearing the petition, had issued a notice to respondents including the DoPT to examine the laid down policies, guidelines and instructions in the matter of ensuring that the Conduct Rules of Government Servants are followed and implemented during the course of election, so that a fair election is held. The petitioner in the case sought to know the guidelines with regard to gazette or non-gazette government officials participating in events with post-holders of the RSS or any political party during an election.
Though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has been in power since 2014, it was only in July this year that the office memorandum was amended.
Rule 5 says, “No member of the Service shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics, nor shall he take part in, or subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner, any political movement or political activity.”
In 2014, the BJP government, soon after coming to power, amended the 1968 Rules and inserted 13 additions which included “high ethical standards, integrity and honesty and political neutrality.”
Slamming the move, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X, “Modi ji has lifted a 1966 ban on Government Servants attending RSS activities, after 58 years. We know how BJP is using RSS to institutionally take over all Constitutional & autonomous bodies. By lifting the ban on government employees from participating in RSS activities, Modi ji wants to politicise government offices and employees on ideological basis. This will be a challenge to the sense of neutrality of public servants in government offices and the supremacy of the Constitution.”
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