On July 9, the government of India’s Department of Personnel & Training (DOPT), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, issued an office memorandum (OM) that lifted a 58-year-old ban on the participation of government servants in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Strangely, this OM was made public first on social media some 10 days later, after which sections of the media reported it. The OM was posted on the DOPT website only on July 30.
The publication of the OM followed a July 25 order of a two-judge bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court directing the DOPT and the Ministry of Home Affairs to display the OM on the home page of their websites. Hearing the matter initially on July 11, the court had reserved its order, and while doing so mentioned that the July 9 OM was placed before it on July 10. From this, it would seem that the government conveyed its decision on the OM only to the court and did not publicise it.
The ban on government employees taking part in the activities of the Jamaat-e-Islami, however, stays in place.
The July 9 OM simply states that the mention of the RSS is being removed from three previous OMs issued in 1966, 1970, and 1980. The 1970 and 1980 OMs reiterate the 1966 OM, but the one in 1980 also refers to the “need to ensure secular outlook on the part of government servants”, and the “need to eradicate communal feelings and communal bias”. The 1966 OM, dated November 30, was in the nature of a clarification that membership of the RSS and the Jamaat-e-Islami and participation in their activities would constitute a violation of sub-rule (1) of Rule 5 of the Central Civil Services, or CCS, (Conduct) Rules, 1964, which debars the participation of government servants in political activity. The sub-rule states: “No government servant shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics nor shall he take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner, any political movement or activity.”
This sub-rule, which derives its legitimacy from the internationally accepted doctrine of the political neutrality of government servants, still stands. Instead, the power of the government to interpret, in the event of any question arising, on whether any organisation and its activities are political or not (derived from sub-rule 3 of the same rule 5) has been used to effectively declare the RSS to be a non-political organisation.
File indexing suggests move had origin in 2016
Interestingly, the number of the July 9 OM—F. No. 34013//1(S)/2016-Estt.B—suggests that the government file that eventually resulted in the OM originated in 2016 (based on the functional file indexing system followed in government). However, the final decision came in the background of a writ petition filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2023 wherein a retired government employee challenged the constitutional validity of the rules on which the 1966, 1970, and 1980 OMs were based. The petitioner claimed that those rules prevented him from joining the RSS in the “dusk of his life”, though it is not clear if the restrictions extend to retired employees too.
The final order of the court indicated that until May 6, 2024, the Union of India, as respondent no 1, had not filed its reply. The court thereafter asked the government to submit its reply in 15 days or have its senior functionaries appear in person to explain why they could not submit the reply.
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On May 22, the Solicitor General submitted that the said OMs were under review, and the matter was adjourned. On July 10, the Union of India filed an affidavit declaring the result of that review, attaching along with it the July 9 OM.
On July 25, while disposing of the petition, the two-judge bench stated: “Ideally, we would have disposed of the writ petition as having rendered infructuous and academic, post the filing of the affidavit dated 10.07.2024. However, since the issues raised in the present petition have national ramifications, especially pertaining to one of the largest voluntary non-governmental organisations, viz. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (for brevity ‘RSS’), therefore before parting with the matter, this court finds condign to make certain observations. These observations are necessary to ensure that any coveted voluntary organisation, working in public and national interest is not crucified again through executive instructions/OMs at the whims and fancies of the government of the day, in the manner in which the RSS has been so treated for last almost five decades.”
The judges went on to make several pronouncements castigating the procedures followed by the government of India in characterising the RSS. The court also observed that “the circulars/OMs that affect the fundamental rights of its employees throughout the nation, specially the rights guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g), must always be viewed with utmost caution with the magnifying lens of judicial review”.
Highlights
- Modi government has scrapped a decades-old ban on civil servants joining the Hindu nationalist organisation and BJP’s parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
- This decision has ignited a firestorm of controversy, with critics arguing it undermines the political neutrality of India’s bureaucracy and threatens secular governance.
- The move, welcomed by the RSS and BJP supporters, has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties and former civil servants who fear it will lead to the politicisation of government institutions.
Shoddy record in protecting fundamental rights
The government that has now permitted the participation of government employees in RSS activities is not known to have a stellar record in protecting fundamental rights of citizens. In fact, while a certain “liberalism” has been shown in the interpretation of the CCS (Conduct) Rules insofar as they apply to government employees, repeated attempts have been made to impose these rules to restrict the freedom of expression on university teachers.
The Federation of Central University Teachers’ Association (FEDCUTA) drew attention to this in a recent press conference. The FEDCUTA said: “University teachers are not government servants. University teachers have a public role – they serve the public, and that is not the same thing as serving the government. This position has been upheld by the courts and yet attempts to impose CCS Conduct Rules on university teachers continue to be made.”
For teachers, it is not only the restriction on participation in political activities that is the concern. The CCS (Conduct) Rules also have several provisions prohibiting participation in protest actions of different kinds, even on service matters, and restricting the right to comment on government policies in writing or in the media, or to publicly air independent views on them.
A RSS shakha in New Delhi, a file photograph. | Photo Credit: PRAKASH SINGH/AFP
They also mandate prior government approval for editing any periodical. Such restrictions not only have no place in academia but would spell the death knell of universities, say teachers. The common thread linking the removal of restrictions on the participation of government servants in RSS activities with the extension of CCS (Conduct) Rules to university teachers is the propagation of authoritarianism where no opinion other than that in support of the ruling regime is given space.
When news of the lifting of the ban was posted on social media, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya was among the first to welcome it. He shared a screenshot of the announcement and said that the original order should not have been passed in the first place. “The unconstitutional order, issued 58 years ago, in 1966, imposing a ban on government employees taking part in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activities has been withdrawn by the Modi government,” he tweeted.
The RSS welcomed the government circular. Sunil Ambekar, Akhil Bhartiya prachar pramukh, said in a statement that the move would strengthen the democratic system of India. The RSS, he said, had been continuously engaged in the reconstruction of the nation and service of society for the past 99 years.
“Due to the RSS’ contributions in times of national security, unity-integrity and natural disasters, the various types of leadership in the country have, from time to time, praised the role of the RSS. Due to their political self-interests, the then governments unjustly prohibited government employees from participating in the activities of a constructive organisation like the RSS. The recent decision of the government is appropriate and will strengthen then democratic system of Bharat,” he said.
Opposition parties like the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party, and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen criticised the move.
Lifting of ban fraught with grave consequences
The decision itself is fraught with grave consequences, not only in terms of governance but for those who may seek to benefit from displaying their political allegiance and alignment of a sectarian nature for short-term goals while serving in government.
A direct fallout is that the government has taken an open position vis-a-vis the RSS. It has also blurred the line between the Legislature and the Executive. While the former can have political leanings, the latter cannot as that would colour decisions at the time of execution. It is for good reason that some senior retired bureaucrats have expressed concern at this recent development and demanded a wider discussion in Parliament.
At a meeting of the RSS in Ahmedabad in 2002 that Narendra Modi, then the Chief Minister of Gujarat, attended. | Photo Credit: PTI
On July 30, E.A.S. Sarma, former Secretary to the government of India, wrote to Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba expressing his anguish and stating that the memorandum made a mockery of the vision of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, considered the architect of the civil services in India. He expressed concern about the long-term adverse implications of the move that “cuts at the root of the apolitical, secular role expected of the civil services in the country”.
Sarma wrote: “Now that the RSS has gained a strong presence in politics, does the latest order of the government represent the present political executive’s endeavour to extend such a presence among the country’s civil services also?” He wondered whether the latest memo was “a part of an orchestrated attempt of the political establishment to politicise institutions, one by one, systematically”. He pointed out that “the role of the civil services was far too important a matter for a political party to take such a summary unilateral decision without a wider debate in Parliament and among the public, as once civil services become politicised, without a firm commitment to the secular, democratic values of the Constitution, it may usher in a highly regressive system of governance that cannot evoke public credibility and trust, paving the way for fissures within society.”
In his letter to the Cabinet Secretary, Sarma also referred to Sardar Patel’s address to civil servants on April 21, 1947, in which he emphasised the need to remain apolitical and independent. Sarma recalled that Patel had advised civil servants to “maintain the utmost impartiality and incorruptibility of administration. A civil servant cannot afford to, and must not, take part in politics. Nor must he involve himself in communal wrangles. To depart from the path of rectitude in either of these respects is to debase public service and to lower its dignity.”
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The retired IAS official M.G. Devasahayam said the circular had merely confirmed the suspicion that the BJP had, after coming to power in 2014, appointed several people with RSS leanings in key positions. “Forget civil servants, I know of Governors who conduct and preside over shakhas in the Raj Bhavans. The shakhas are a basic feature of the RSS. What they have now done is to make it formal, misusing the discretionary powers under Rule 5(3). Under Rule 5(1), there is no question of lifting this ban,” he told Frontline.
The opposition to the memorandum has not been at expected levels; neither has there been a discussion in Parliament on the issue. It is significant that the CCS (Conduct) Rules and the All India Service (Conduct) Rules, which have similar provisions, derive their legitimacy from Article 309 of the Constitution. This Article empowers the Central or State Legislatures, or the President and Governors until the Legislatures have adopted an appropriate Act, to “regulate the recruitment, and conditions of service of persons appointed, to public services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of any State”. It remains to be seen whether the Legislature will now exercise its prerogative and take up the matter for discussion.
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