” Youth are showing great interest in various dimensions of Sangh work said Sri Kacham Ramesh, Prant Karyavah of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Telangana in the press conference organised by RSS Telangana in Keshav Nilayam, Bhagyanagar.
Sri Ramesh said that over the last 8 years, over 1000 Shakas in Telangana have increased. In 2008, there were 1332 shakhas whereas currently there are 2412. Across the country, there are 58962 shakhas whereas in 2008 there were 39897 shakhas.”
RSS has held a press meet on 14th Mar 2018 at RSS Hyderabad central office which was well-attended by the Telugu, Hindi, Urdu and English, electronic, print and digital media. The press meet is mainly to apprise the media on the recently held Akhil Bharatiya Prathinidhi Sabha (ABPS) at Nagpur during 9-11 Mar 2018 and developments in Telangana.
Sri Kacham Ramesh, Prant Karyavah of RSS, Telangana addressed the media along with Sri Sundar Reddy , Prant Sah Sanghchalak
The ABPS paid it’s tributes to the all the activists who were martyred while fighting political violence as well as others who died in the call of duty trying providing relief to the people affected by natural calamities.
ABPS took stock of the growth in the shakhas and gave a vivid picture on the growth status. Total sangha shiksha vargs (SSVs) were held in 16370 places in which 24139 persons have participated, which shows a steady growth during 2017-18. The shakhas have also increased from 57165 to 58967 during the same period with more and more milans and mandis. RSS activities are expanding all over the country at sub-block clusters.
Speaking on a grand Sanghik of swayamsevaks called “Rashtroday” in Meerut, Sri Ramesh stated that over 1.45 lakhs people participated in full-dress in the Meerut Meeting, and 6 lakhs food packets were collected from 3 lakh families in the 3 adjoining districts in UP.
Despite severe repression in West Bengal, more than 1.75 lakh people participated in the 125th year celebrations of Swami Vivekananda Chicago address.
In Telangana state, an increase of over 1000 shakhas was witnessed in the last 8 years from 1332 to 2412 shakhas running currently. In a survey done in RSS Telangana, it was found that in about 350 villages, caste discrimination and temple entry for all hindus remained a problem. RSS Swayamsevaks along with society worked systematically to remove the anomaly in 200 villages so far. In the next three years in Telangana, awareness activities would be increasing exponentially focusing on water resources, burial grounds and temple entry for all without any kind of discrimination. Samithis are being formed and farmer-centric activities are a focus.
Also district Sadbhavana Consultation meetings would be held with religious and welfare organizations focusing on building villages with Social harmony and Equality of all.
Election Process in Sangh
He also shed light on the process of appointments in RSS; he said though not well-known outside, RSS follows a scrupulous meticulous process of organizational elections. Provincial presidents are elected and about 300 provincial leaders elect the Prant Sanghchalak. The Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhis including Sanghchalaks elect the Sarkaryavah. Shri Bhaiyyaji Joshi was recently elected for a further 3 years.
Bharatiya languages
This year the ABPS has also passed a resolution to `protect and develop Indian languages’. Language is an important constituent of identity and an active vehicle of culture and society. Almost 200 languages are extinct in india, and there are 250 languages which are spoken by less than 10000 people making these languages vulnerable.
RSS believes that it is important to undertake the following measures to protect and develop Bharatiya languages:
- Primary education should be taught in the mother tongue of people of that region.
- Similarly teaching, curriculum, training materials should be in Bharatiya languages in higher as well as technical education.
- It’s a welcome initiative that NEET and UPSC examinations are being conducted in Bharatiya languages, the same option should be made available for other entrance tests and competitive examinations so that students can write in their own languages
- Preference should be given to Bharatiya languages in all Government and Judicial works, and all other functions instead of just promoting English.
- The society must also give preference to mother tongue at homes and in daily interactions in the society. The tradition of reading literature and promoting music and folk arts in Bharatiya languages needs to be cultivated.
Q&A Session :
Following the address, the media persons had a free-wheeling question and answer session on a range of issues.
Answering a question on Service activities, Shri Kacham Ramesh said they include single-teacher schools, health services and orphanages.
On a specific question on `dharma jagarana samithi’, he stated that some people are motivated to create rift between different castes and encourage conversions to other religions, jagarana works towards creating awareness on Hinduism in the people. He said there are about 1500 village committees in Telangana working on the issue.
On the issue of Ayodhya, he stated that Sri Rama temple is already present in Ayodhya, it’s only about building a grand temple, Ram Janmabhumi Nyas rightfully owns the land.
On the question that since PM Shri Narendra Modi belongs to RSS, couldn’t the govt take more interest in building the temple? He answered that even if he belongs to RSS, the govt would duly follow the law of the land and courts, and people’s opinion must be respected.
On Kerala killings he said, despite fervent appeals, Kerala govt continues it’s policy of repression of political opponents and kills activists belonging to other parties. Rule of law and democracy are not followed by the murderous govt in Kerala where unlawful activities go unchecked.
On the languages issue, he opined that there is no imposition of Hindi, RSS respects all Indian languages equally, Hindi is used as it serves as a link language. On a question on Urdu, he said that whatever status is granted by the Constitution to a language, Sangh will honour that. However, he said it should not be at the cost of other Bharatiya languages.
On Mr Praveen Togadia’s statement, he said any attack on a hindu won’t be tolerated, and the state govt must take action on the culprits.
On the question of the usage of English as a medium of instruction in Sishu Mandir schools, he said English is being encouraged as the students have to compete with other schools and English is not at the cost of neglecting Telugu.
The press meet concluded with a vote of thanks by Sri Ayush N, Prant Prachar Pramukh.
