NEW DELHI: "Your child may speak English today, but he will leave you alone in the street when you are old." That’s the dire warning issued by Ramendra Rai, who heads the Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shikshan Sansthan, to a gathering at a recent event in the national capital recently.The Sansthan is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological wellspring of the Sangh Parivar. For the RSS, the ascent of the Narendra Modi-led BJP to power is a signal that it’s time for the culture wars to be taken to the next level.Among the various weapons in the arsenal that are being unleashed, one is a campaign to catch them young. Under the Har Prakhand Mein Vidyalaya project, the RSS wants to set up a model school in every block of the country before 2017. Toward this end, organisations affiliated to the RSS have a new assignment--to check the growth of convent schools and educational institutions run by missionaries.“Start gurukuls and schools that promote the Indian way of thinking to counter such influence”--that’s the game plan that was presented at a meeting of the heads of educational institutions affiliated to the Sangh--Shishu Mandir Sewa Bharati, Vidya Bharati, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Bharat Kalyan Prathisthan and Bharatiya Jan Seva Sansthan. This message was bolstered with findings that said the number of schools run by Christian missionaries was increasing.It was decided to hold public awareness events across the country to motivate people to send their children to schools run by Hindus and not by missionaries, said people familiar with the proceedings.“We want to have at least one school in every block of every village in the country by 2017. But what we are also worried about is the growing interest among people for convent (education). We have to tell them English might give their children good careers but only Indian education will make them respectful of family values,” said Rai. Vidya Bharati Sansthan operates about 40,000 schools in India with more than 40 lakh students.The exhortation to look inward and eschew what are regarded as cultural impurities from outside Indian tradition may conflict with the worldview of the current government, which has embarked on an intense campaign to engage with the rest of the world, especially in terms of drumming up investment. In the seven months since becoming PM Modi has been to the US, Japan and Australia among other countries. India has the leaders of China and President Barack Obama will be Republic Day chief guest later in JanuarySudha Pai, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University said the agenda pursued by many right wing organisations was in contradiction to whatever the government was projecting itself in support of. “Soon there will be a point of confrontation where the government will have to come clear on its stance. The sangh’s approach to education is concerned, it is far fetched. People know that English education will help their children in the long run and they are not likely to respond to the Sangh’s call.”Rai said cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata have not been “much receptive” to schools run by the Sangh while there’s been a much better response in New Delhi and Mumbai.“A look at our recent data suggests we have managed to establish an RSS model school in every district in Uttar Pradesh,” Rai said. “Efforts in Bihar and Jharkhand have been commendable but we are sprucing up efforts in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.” Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have done well in promoting RSS-affiliated schools with MLAs supporting them, he said.“In India, becoming literate alone is not being educated. What our schools are focusing on is creating a generation of students who are patriotic and understand what is right and wrong,” Rai said. “People get attracted to what is presented to them in an attractive way. It is only when the children start talking back to them that parents regret having put them in schools that are run on the principles of western culture.”The sangh has been making efforts for long but there has been a significant jump in the number of volunteers in the past few months that has intensified efforts, said Ramindra Singh, director, Vidya Bharati.Helping the Sangh in its efforts are people such as Baba Ramdev. They want to open 7 lakh gurukuls to counter western education.According to RSS sources, the organisation has trained more than 1 lakh handpicked local youths to be sent to village-level model schools. Mostly RSS members themselves, these teachers have undergone a three-month teaching probation and then a final 10-day training shivir.“We celebrate the birthday of one Jesus Christ but forget it was on December 25 that day Swami Vivekananda started his penance in Kanyakumari or Swami Shraddhananda breathed his last,” Vidya Bharati’s Singh said.