(Representative image)



LUCKNOW: In a key decision as part of its high-profile coordination committee meeting with the BJP last week, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS ) will double the number of its shakhas in west UP , following the electoral debacle in Kairana and Noorpur.

As of now, there are 685 shakhas across Agra, Meerut, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Aligarh and Mathura. The outfit plans to take that number beyond 1,300 by the end of the year.

The decision also means that RSS has asked its education wing to step up its presence through primary and senior secondary schools-—Shishu Vatika and Vidya Bharati—which are 1,033 in number at the moment.

At the three-day meeting, RSS asked its community service allied organisation Rashtriya Sewa Bharati to look after Kumbh preparations in Allahabad in 2019.

The outfit will induct more than 3,000 young volunteers to manage transit camps and provide shuttle buses to transport pilgrims and NRIs, sources in RSS told TOI.

“It is not about any political message in the Kumbh Mela; it is about helping visitors know about Hindu culture,” said an RSS functionary.

Another thrust area is to use the NDA government’s schemes to showcase the BJP’s performance, at Kumbh. In a first, RSS karyakartas will be asked to help village representatives install more than 50,000 LED lights and engage rural women to visit the 65,000 upcoming toilets around Allahabad to make them aware.

RSS functionaries will also coordinate with other religious organisations to help them set their own tents, for which the UP government has earmarked around Rs 120 crore.

