RSS activists at a training camp in Bhopal. (File picture)
(The Telegraph
March 13, 2007)
Sangh in sweat over morning sickness
POORNIMA JOSHI
New Delhi, March 12: The saffron growth curve is getting stunted.
In the annual meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh that ended yesterday, chief executive Mohanrao Bhagwat reported a significant drop in the number of shakhas over the past year.
Shakhas are early morning meetings the RSS organises to impart martial training to their members. The Sangh calculates its strength from the number of people who attend these classes regularly.
The RSS annual report that Bhagwat presented during the Pratinidhi Sabha meeting on March 9 shows a decline in the number of shakhas from 51,201 in 2005-06 to 44,417 in 2006-07. Even the coverage area has shrunk from 35,790 cities and towns to 30,988 places this year.
Bhagwat attributed this drop to the fact that Sangh functionaries were busy organising events to commemorate the birth centenary of their ideologue M.S. Golwalkar.
But, despite this, Bhagwat expressed concern at the drop. “All these figures underscore the necessity of further strengthening our activity and qualitative improvement of our activists,” he said.
Ironically, the same reason Bhagwat cited for the falling shakha numbers had, last year, been a cause for cheer.
“There is a rise of shakhas that is indicative of the enthusiastic atmosphere created on the occasion of the birth centenary of Shri Guruji. If we utilise the birth centenary celebration to further expand our contacts and social awakening work, we would be able to keep the progress of our activity intact in the coming years,” Bhagwat had told the Pratinidhi Sangh last year.
Even more worrisome is that the number of dedicated pracharaks — described by JNU political scientist Pralay Kanungo as the “solid steel frame” of the RSS — has not shown any significant rise.
Over the past 10 years, their number has remained stagnant between 2,000 and 2,500. This is another cause of worry for the Sangh that depends on pracharaks to recruit swayamsevaks and indoctrinate grassroots workers.
The total attendance in the shakhas is about 18 lakh. This means about 40 regulars at each shakha. Sangh insiders place the average attendance at 15, which yields a countrywide figure of a little more than six lakh.
Compare this to the BJP that has grown from about 1 crore members in 1999 to about 3 crore at the beginning of this year.
And therein lies the explanation for the RSS’s falling numbers.
“Politics is becoming increasingly devoid of ideology, all ideologically-oriented organisations are facing a problem of attracting the youth.
“So while people are ready to join the BJP that promises them perks of power, they are not so willing to come to the RSS,” said a senior RSS functionary.
“Even those who join us are mostly governed by the logic of power. They believe the RSS would pave the way for their induction into the BJP,” the functionary added.
