Lifting ban violates Constitution -- Cong

Lifting ban violates Constitution -- Cong
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 6: The Congress today strongly condemned the Gujarat Government's decision to allow government employees to become members of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS), calling ``illegal, improper, ultra vires of the Constitution.''

The CPI alleged that the BJP government in Gujarat was ``out to saffronise'' the administration in the state by lifting the ban on its employees from participating in RSS activities.

``The decision of Gujarat government to allow participation by government employees in the activities of rss is a clear indication that BJP is out to saffronise the administrative apparatus in the state,'' CPI's central office said in a release here. Congress spokesperson Ajit Jogi told reporters today that the decision was violative of the civil services conduct rules and would only serve to communalise the government services who had so far served the nation in non-partisan manner.

``The BJP government's decision clearly violated the civil services' principles of anonymity,neutrality and impartiality,'' Jogi asserted. He warned the BJP's allies at the Centre to take heed now, saying that in Gujarat the BJP had a majority and it would take similar decisions if it managed a majority at the Centre too.

Quoting from the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1994, Jogi said that the rules clearly banned any government servant from becoming a member of any political party and also prohibited them from becoming members or participating in the activities of the RSS and the Jamaat-E-Islami.

Any government servant, who is a member of or is otherwise associated with these organisations was liable to disciplinary action under the rules, he added.

CWC member Rajesh Pilot, in a separate statement, said that the Gujarat government's decision to allow its employees to join the RSS is indeed sad and has destructive ramifications.