Mayawati urges Centre to withdraw order allowing govt employees to participate in RSS activities

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 22 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national president Mayawati urged the central government on Monday to withdraw the order allowing government employees to participate in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activities.
Mayawati alleged the move was "politically motivated to appease the Sangh".
"The Centre's decision to lift the 58-year-old ban on government employees going to RSS shakhas is beyond national interest, a politically motivated decision to appease the Sangh so that the bitterness that has intensified between the two after the Lok Sabha elections regarding government policies and their arrogant attitudes, etc., is removed," Mayawati said in a post on X on Monday.
She said that government employees must work in the public interest and public welfare with impartiality, staying within the ambit of the Constitution and the law.
"The activities of the RSS, which have been banned many times, have not only been very political but also electoral for a particular party. In such a situation, this decision is unfair; it should be withdrawn immediately," the BSP supremo said in the post.
An order was reportedly issued by the Ministry of Personnel, lifting the ban on the participation of government employees in RSS activities. The order has, however, sparked a row, drawing criticism from the opposition.
Referring to the order as "very strange," Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that it is the responsibility of 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 if 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, for the whole country," Tharoor said while speaking to ANI outside Parliament on Monday.
"This is not fair; after retiring from service, you can do whatever you want but when you are in government, you should remain neutral," he added.
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, and 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."
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi said on Monday 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 the 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 the RSS," he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Malviya said on Monday 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.