Prakash Javadekar, RSS hold six-hour closed-door meeting on new education policy

Newly sworn-in Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday held a closed-door meeting with members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). [caption id=“attachment_1551929” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Prakash Javadekar. PTI[/caption] The Indian Express reported that the meeting, held to discuss the new national education policy, is one of his first official interaction with the RSS since he took charge of the HRD ministry earlier this month. According to the report, Javadekar met with senior functionaries of the saffron organisation and representatives of affiliated outfits such as Vidya Bharati, Akhil Vidyarthi Parishad, Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh, Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, Sanskrit Bharati, Shiksha Bachao Andolan, Vigyan Bharati and Itihas Sankalan Yojana for roughly six hours at Gujarat Bhavan in Delhi.

“The meeting was part of the government-organisational interface that was established after the Modi government came to power. Since Javadekar ji is new to the ministry, we updated him about the grassroot level challenges and the reforms required in the education sector. Social Justice Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot and Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram also attended for some time as their ministries deal with education of tribals, reserved castes and backward classes" — RSS functionary as quoted in The Indian Express

The Hindu reported that the meetings of Javadekar and other important portfolio holders with RSS pracharaks were about how “several of these organisations wanted to express their reservations about the government policy,” a source from the BJP is quoted in the report as saying. Earlier this month, RSS affiliate organisation, Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal (BSM) organised an event to push their recommendations to the TSR Subramanian’s committee, which had been rejected, to Prakash Javadekar. In a Hindustan Times report, Mukul Kanitkar, organising secretary of the BSM is quoted as saying, “The HRD ministry has made some parts of the policy public and we will discuss the policy with experts and give our suggestions too.” The Indian Express article states that the Subramanian’s committee had received 80,000 suggestions. Even Smriti Irani, the former HRD minister (and now Minister of Textile) had repeatedly come under criticism for saffronising the education system — a criticism she has vehemently rubbished. And the RSS too has been open in it’s criticism of the current state of affairs in education — that it doesn’t provide “spiritual integration”. The 6-hour-long closed-door meeting between Javadekar and the RSS will perhaps have its own story to tell in the coming weeks.