RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat stated that affirmative action must continue until social discrimination is eradicated, invoking BR Ambedkar’s principles. He criticized the political manipulation of quotas and urged for transparency in their implementation.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, addressing a youth interaction summit, emphasised that affirmative action policies must remain active until social discrimination is completely eradicated from society.
RSS Chief Backs Reservation Citing Ambedkar
Mohan Bhagwat invoked the core principles of BR Ambedkar, attempting to realign the stance on reservation policies, claiming that reservation exists due to social reasons. Pointing out that policy frameworks should be evaluated through historical guidelines, Bhagwat directed attention toward the structural vision laid down by the architect of the Constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar. He remarked that growing demands for categorisation and recent judicial pointers indicate an organic shift in how reservation benefits are distributed.
He said, “I will go to what Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar thought about reservation. If we honestly follow his advice, then there is no problem. Reservation exists due to social reasons. As long as there is social discrimination, reservation will continue. Those who received it and benefited should pass it on.”
On Demands for Sub-Categorisation
Pointing out that various regions are increasingly raising discussions regarding internal division of quotas, Bhagwat highlighted the changing nature of public demands and said, “A few voices have started coming up that they received it, benefitted and now it should be given to others. There have been demands for categorisation in a few states. Supreme Court too had made an observation.”
‘Politics Should Not Be Done Over This’
Criticising how political entities manipulate welfare systems for partisan gains, the RSS leader noted that quotas should ideally act as temporary stepping stones for personal and community upliftment. He said, “There is a stream, in those who get the reservation, that this is for our upliftment and not a permanent measure, and we have to take advantage of this, improve ourselves and make this useful for others who haven’t got it yet. This should be encouraged.”
Highlighting that the framework was built to foster unity rather than division, Bhagwat called for transparency and purity of intent in execution. “Politics should not be done over this. If all measures are properly implemented, soon its need would end. It will then be thought about. But politics was done over it, which creates bad blood. Actually, the measure was brought for social unity. The measure in itself is not wrong, but those who wield the sword are doing it in the wrong way intentionally. Unless that is cured, I don’t see anything,” Mohan Bhagwat said.
Other Voices from the Summit
Following Bhagwat’s address, World Trade Centre Chairman Vijay Kalantri reacted to the recent discussions surrounding youth welfare at an international summit, remarked that proactive government intervention could have prevented the unfortunate chaos and infiltration witnessed at Jantar Mantar. He said, “What happened at Jantar Mantar was unfortunate–deplorable, really; it shouldn’t have happened. Many say that if there had been a dialogue earlier, perhaps it could have been avoided. I think there is some truth to that… The government should have constituted a task force and initiated a dialogue early on… The delay resulted in other elements–political or anti-social infiltrating the movement, which led to the ensuing chaos.”
Pointing to precedents involving various digital apps where unverified material confused, Kalantri underscored the necessity of administrative vigilance. He added, Meanwhile, President of Everstone Group and former Union Minister Jayant Sinha highlighted that the head of the Sangh maintains a constant tradition of open public communication. He said, “The Sarsanghchalak is always engaged in dialogue, and today he held a very congenial and effective interaction with Gen Z. I believe Gen Z must be thoroughly satisfied with his responses…”
Bhagwat and IIMUN Founder Rishabh Shah concluded their interaction and question-answer session with a ‘Clock it’ gesture. (ANI)
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