Centre lifts decades-old ban on govt officials joining RSS

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday lifted a long-standing ban on government employees participating in activities organized by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The order stated, "It has been decided to remove the mention of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (R.S.S.S) from the impugned OMS dated 30.11.1966, 25.07.1970 and 28.10.1980."
According to Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP's IT cell, the ban was initially implemented in response to a massive anti-cow-slaughter protest at the Parliament on November 7, 1966, which was supported by the RSS and Jana Sangh.

"The unconstitutional order issued 58 years ago, in 1966, imposing a ban on Govt employees taking part in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been withdrawn by the Modi government. The original order shouldn’t have been passed in the first place. The ban was imposed because on 7 November 1966, there was a massive anti-cow-slaughter protest at the Parliament. RSS-Jana Sangh mobilised support in lakhs. Many died in police firing," Malviya said in a post on X.
"On 30 November 1966, shaken by the RSS-Jana Sangh clout, Indira Gandhi banned government staff from joining the RSS," he added.
Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi expressed her disapproval of the government's decision and that the order allows government officials from various agencies to openly demonstrate their allegiance to the RSS ideology.
"With this order ED, IT, CBI, ECI and other sarkari officers can officially prove their Sanghi credentials. Such a shame, instead of aligning only to Bharat Mata’s interests, BJP is leading them towards keeping ideological interests first," she said.