Team News Riveting
Bengaluru, March 19
The routine daily shakhas of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had resumed at 89 per cent places as compared to March last year that were closed down due to COVID-19 induced lockdown.
The shakha or the sanghsthal in RSS parlance is the place where swayamsevaks of different age groups gather at a predefined meeting place or ground for one hour. The daily routine programs include physical exercises, singing patriotic chorus, group discussions on varied range of subjects and a prayer for motherland.
“The remaining shakhas will resume gradually,” RSS Sah Sarkaryawah Dr Manmohan Vaidya said in a press conference organised to brief the first-day activities of the two-day Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the apex body of the RSS, that started here today. He was accompanied by Arun Kumar, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh of the RSS.
Besides Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, top functionaries of the RSS are attending the meeting along with 450 delegates from all over the country.
The Sarkaryawah said Sangh shakhas were present in all districts in about 6495 taluks/khands. Among this, shakhas have become active again in 85 per cent khands. Below the Tehsil level, mandals comprising 10-12 villages have been formed. There are 58,500 such mandals in the country among which active shakhas are present in 40 per cent while contact has been established in 20 per cent. “Hence, 60 per cent of the mandals have been covered either through shakhas or by establishing contact in such places,” Dr Vaidya said, adding that the Sangh network is expanding throughout the country and in the next 3 years, it aims to reach all the mandals across the country.
The Sah Sarkaryawah informed that the RSS volunteers battled the COVID-19 situation and did exemplary services to the society by reaching out to the needy. “The RSS provided ration kits to 73 lakh people and food packets to nearly 4.5 crore during the period,” Vaidya said, adding that Seva Bharti, the social arm of the organisation, was able to cover 92,656 places through more than 5,60,000 activists. The RSS volunteers also distributed 90 lakh masks besides 20 lakh migrants and 2,50,000 itinerant population.
Swayamsevaks were actively involved in the Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpan campaign throughout the country. However, the focus of the campaign was not on collecting donations which people gave wilfully, but was aimed to reach out to maximum people and families. “We received an unprecedented response and such a massive campaign had not been undertaken earlier,” Dr Vaidya said.
RSS Swayamsevaks reached 5,45,737 locations as part of the campaign. About 20 lakh Karyakartas were involved in the campaign and were able to contact 12,47, 21,000 families. The Swayamsevaks reached even the remotest places in Mizoram, Nagaland, Andaman, Ladakh, etc. The goal was to reach every village and approach everyone. The response was overwhelming.
