Centre revives Sangh's idea of nation building

Centre revives Sangh's idea of nation building
DEVESH KUMAR

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 15: The Atal Behari Vajpayee-government has revived the National Reconstruction Corps, a `nation-building' project conceived by the RSS.

A 31-member steering committee headed by Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Uma Bharati and largely comprising of Sangh leaders has been set up. It will have its first meeting on March 1 and be preceded by a nine-day exercise to select project officers and volunteers in all state capitals.

The committee includes Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Pon Radhakrishnan who comes from the RSS stable, Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) vice-chairman Muralidharan, BJP MP Prahlad Patel, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe who heads Rambhau Mhalagi Prabodhini, a training centre for RSS cadres and Bharat Pathak, organising secretary of Deendayal Research Institute, an RSS think tank. A Shiv Sena MP as well as Anoop Mishra, BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh and a nephew of Vajpayee. The list of members has been put up to the PMO.

The NRC, one of the ambitious projects conceived by the RSS, will comprise of 80 pilot projects across the country in the first year and 120 in the second year. Each project, to be located in the most backward districts, will, in turn, recruit 100 ``volunteers.'' In all, some 8,000 volunteers are likely to be accommodated in this exercise in the first year. Each project officer will be paid Rs 5,000 per month while volunteers will get Rs 1,000.

The Opposition parties had suspected that the Corps will equip the Parivar with adequate leeway to accommodate its cadres as volunteers and through them spread the message of the Saffron brotherhood.

The project, which will be implemented by the NYK, was first launched with much fanfare at Lucknow by Vajpayee on July 1, 1999. But it could not take off with the election commission playing spoilsport. With the announcement of elections, the model code of conduct came into force and NRC had to be shelved temporarily.

The mission statement prepared by the ministry for youth affairs and sports resembles that of any other RSS agency. ``Patriotism and love for the nation naturally inspire the youth. They are inclined to be idealistic and attracted towards national service,'' it states, and also invokes Mahatama Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda. The youth have ``a special role to play as catalysts of change,'' it says, calling upon them ``to participate in the process of nation-building.''