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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor referred to it as "very strange" after the central government lifted the ban on participation of government employees in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activities.
Tharoor said that it is the responsibility of the government employees to work for everyone and added that they should remain "neutral" when in government. "This is very strange. RSS work and government work are different, both should not be together and the Narendra Modi government did not change this rule for 10 years, then why are you changing it now? It is the responsibility of government employees to work for everyone, work for the whole country. This is not fair, after retiring from service you can do whatever you want but when you are in the government you should remain neutral," Tharoor said while speaking to ANI outside Parliament on Monday. An order was reportedly issued by the Ministry of Personnel has lifted a ban on government employees taking part in RSS activities. The order has however sparked a row drawing criticism from the opposition parties. Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said that it is not right to discuss such things and added that all parties have employees who support them "I think it is not right to discuss such things. All parties have employees who support them and they do their work within limits," Athawale told ANI. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi referred to the order as "shameful" and said, "Earlier ED, CBI, IT were all doing khaki work wearing khaki shorts. Now they will be able to speak openly. It is shameful that today our bureaucrats who should work for Bharat Mata and the government should promote it, will now work keeping their ideology in mind, this is shameful." Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Malviya on Monday said that the "unconstitutional order" which was issued 58 years ago has been withdrawn by the central government. "The unconstitutional order issued 58 years ago, in 1966, imposing a ban on government employees taking part in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been withdrawn by the Modi government.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," Malviya said in a post on X. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said that the order was against India's integrity and unity, adding that no civil servant can be loyal to the nation if he is a member of RSS. "This office memo purportedly shows that the government has lifted the ban on government employees participating in RSS activities. If true, this is against India's integrity and unity. The ban on RSS exists because it refused to accept the constitution, the national flag and the national anthem," Owaisi said in a post on X. "Every RSS member takes an oath that puts Hindutva above the nation. No civil servant can be loyal to the nation if he is a member of RSS," he added. (ANI)
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