RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat met nearly 60 luminaries from the fields of education, health care, law, culture and bureaucracy over lunch earlier this month, seeking their views on RSS and Hindutva and telling them that society and government need to work together to effect change in the country.
The rare interaction with the RSS sarsanghchalak took place on October 12 at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi. Invitation cards were issued by RSS Delhi prant sanghchalak Kulbhushan Ahuja.
Those present included AIIMS director Dr M C Misra, UGC chairman Ved Prakash, Delhi University vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University vice-chancellor Anil K Tyagi, additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta, cardiac surgeons Dr Naresh Trehan and Dr K K Aggarwal, mountaineer Santosh Yadav, dancer Sonal Mansingh, former AIIMS director P Venugopal, National Council for Teacher Education chairman Santosh Panda, former Uttar Pradesh DGP Prakash Singh and other retired bureaucrats.
Copies of Bhagwat’s Vijay Dashmi speech were distributed at the meeting and people present were asked to give their views. While most listened to what Bhagwat said, around a dozen engaged the RSS chief and gave their own suggestions on what the government needed to do.
Sources privy to the meeting said Bhagwat did not promise anything and said “Sarkar sangh ki nahin hai. Hamare swayamsevak sarkar mein hain. Aapki baat un tak ham pahuncha denge (It is not a RSS government. Our swayamsevaks are in the government. Your suggestions will be conveyed).”
“Koi bhi badlao sirf sarkar se nahin aa sakta. Sarkar aur samaj ke sahyog se hi badlao aa sakta hai (No change can be effected by a government alone. Change is possible only if the government and society cooperate,” he was quoted as having said.
When The Indian Express contacted Dr Aggarwal, he said he suggested health sector reform measures like maximising the use of the health budget, elimination of diseases and reduction in time taken for hospitalisation. “We also discussed how health care can be improved by strengthening our ancient values,” he said.
Dr Trehan said he put forth his ideas of reforms in the health sector to “provide health care to each and every citizen… there was no politics, no religion. It was just an exchange of views”.
Sonal Mansingh said “RSS is one-of-its-kind organisation, totally dedicated to India” and suggested that “cultural inputs should become part of education”.
“Until the HRD Ministry was created, separating culture from education, it was an inclusive, holistic system. Young generations were not deprived of important aspects and dimensions of Indian ethos,” Mansingh said.
Sources said the AIIMS director suggested that the private sector should be encouraged to work in the field of health care to reduce the burden on the public sector. UGC chairman Ved Prakash, the sources said, called for implementation of reports of various commissions