Colour me saffron - Editorial (Aug 5, 2011, Indian Express)
The Centre has finally taken long-overdue action, asking Madhya Pradesh to disable the participation of public employees in RSS activities. There has been a longstanding ban across India on public officials being affiliated with the RSS (as with any political organisation). In January 2000, when the Gujarat government lifted the ban for the RSS, the then president, K.R. Narayanan, took up the issue with the government, and the idea was withdrawn. However, by revoking the ban on RSS participation in 2006, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan only formalised what was already an entrenched practice in the state. In fact, in March, the CM publicly exhorted government employees to join the RSS.
The BJP's explanation is that the rules don't apply to the RSS, which is a "cultural organisation". That is merely finessing the line between "culture" and "politics". It's common knowledge that the RSS often remotely controls the party, makes high-level appointments and dictates the party's course. The BJP is only one of the spokes in the Sangh Parivar wheel, meant to participate in formal politics. The MP government has made no attempt to disown its connection with the RSS.
However, our Constitution expects civil servants to be scrupulously neutral. Apart from voting, they are meant to refrain from any political movement or party, and there are strong constraints even on expressing opinion in a public forum. Though it's difficult to be entirely value-free, it's essential to be non-partisan. The administration is meant to keep governance stable through all changes in political weather, and any impression of bias would be deeply destructive to the institution. The MP government has undermined that code for too long.
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