Several pleas in courts have raised ban on RSS membership of govt. staff

VIJAITA SINGH

 

NEW DELHI

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 lifted the ban on 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 Union Home Ministry, 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, 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.)”.

A series of petitions have been filed in courts across the country on the issue.

Court stay

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 petition filed by the Democratic Lawyers Forum saying 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 notice to the respondents including the Department of Personnel and Training.

The petitioner in the case sought to know the guidelines with regard to gazetted or non-gazetted government officials participating in events with office-bearers of the RSS or any political party during an election. 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.”

Slamming the move, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X, “Modiji 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.”