Govt on right track but economic model needed: RSS

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SME Times News Bureau | 05 Sep, 2015
Rejecting criticism that it was acting like a "remote control", the RSS said on Friday that the Narendra Modi government was on the right track and that three days of discussions with government leaders had been "very useful".

"Only 14 months have passed (since the government took power). There is more time and a lot more is to be done. Whatever has been done so far, the government's direction is fine, so is its dedication, commitment and thinking. Its achievements are good," RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale told the media here.

"There cannot be 100 percent satisfaction for everyone," the 59-year-old added.

The leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the Modi government had raised the aspirations and hopes of the people as never before and created a sense of confidence both within and outside the country.

"That is the most welcome thing" about the government, he said.

The RSS veteran, who interacts closely with the Modi-led government, rejected Congress criticism that the RSS was acting like a remote control of the ruling coalition.

"Those who remote controlled (the government) have no moral right to talk about remote control."

Replying to a question that ministers were violating the oath of secrecy by reporting to the RSS, he said: "We are not an illegal organisation. We are also citizens of the country.

"We have every right to ask ministers, who are also swayamsevaks. Where is the question of secrecy? Swayamsevaks have become ministers."

Hosabale said he and his colleagues told the government that India needed to go for an economic model suited to it instead of aping the West which was facing a grave economic crisis.

"These days people are rushing to cities from villages in search of work, education and healthcare. The government should provide these facilities in villages. We need an economic model where people remain happily in villages," he said.

He said the BJP-led government was led by "those who are allied to our ideology. We had very useful discussions" with BJP leaders and ministers.

"This was not a critical assessment of the government," he said. "Our people work on the ground, we came together to provide valuable and useful inputs to those in the government."

Hosabale said among the subjects that figured in the BJP-RSS discussions were cross-border terrorism, internal terrorism, rural development, ties with neighbouring countries, and the country's cultural heritage.

He also pressed the need for policies to ensure social security and right to live with dignity.

"We need an education to be Indian. Modern education should merge with values. Education should be geographically accessible, economically affordable and socially inclusive."

On the issue of implementation of One Rank One Pension scheme, he was confident the government would resolve the matter expeditiously.

On the construction of a grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Hosabale said the RSS only follows the footprints of Hindu religious leaders.

"RSS will wait for its construction as per the government's time-table as the issue is pending before the Supreme Court."

Prime Minister Modi attended the RSS-BJP meeting on Friday evening.