100K shakhas, 10 million volunteers: RSS sets goal for centenary year

The organisation resolves to promote goodwill meetings, address inter-caste conflicts, and focus on women's empowerment. Archis Mohan reports

In its centenary year, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), founded on Vijayadashami day (September 27) in 1925, has set a target of increasing the number of its shakhas — morning meeting locations — from 85,000 to 100,000. It also aims to enroll 3–4 million new swayamsevaks (active volunteers), taking the total number of such volunteers to 10 million.

  From October 2 this year to October 20 next year (Vijayadashami days of 2025 and 2026), RSS volunteers will conduct a nationwide door-to-door outreach campaign across villages and towns as the organisation moves into its next phase of evolution. 

On Sunday, the final day of the three-day meeting of its highest decision-making body, the All India Pratinidhi Sabha, in Bengaluru, the RSS passed a resolution committing itself to ending inter-caste frictions and conflicts through samajik sadbhav baithaks (goodwill meetings). Over the past few decades, the RSS has sought to bridge caste divides to “galvanise” Hindu society.

  The RSS also resolved to focus on women’s empowerment, environmental protection, and improving the management of Hindu temples. It plans to hold discussions with prominent citizens in villages and towns on contemporary issues in a bid to shape or “correct distorted” narratives. It will also work for a more efficient management of Hindu temples. These meetings with the intelligentsia will begin in 2026, with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat engaging with prominent figures in Delhi, Mumbai, Beng­aluru, and Kolkata. A special outreach programme will be la­u­n­ched for youth aged 15 to 30.

  RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale elaborated on the centenary celebrations and told the media that 1,443 of the 1,482 top leaders from the RSS and its 32 affiliated organisations attended the meeting. Those who attended included J P Nadda, national president of RSS’ political arm, the Bharatiya Janata Party. But Hosabale refused to be drawn into discussions over Nadda’s successor. The RSS leadership said the BJP is following its due process, as delineated in its party constitution, to elect its next chief.

  Asked about the recent violence in Nagpur over the legacy of 17th-century Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, Hosabale said there was a reason why the Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi was renamed as APJ Abdul Kalam Road after the country’s former President. He said those who spoke of India’s ‘Ganga-Jamuni tahzeeb’ made Aurangzeb an icon, who had the mindset of an invader and ruled against the ethos and culture of the country, but not his brother Dara Shikoh, who was steeped in the traditions of the country.

  Describing Rajput King Rana Pratap, who fought a battle against Mughal Emperor Akbar, Hosabale said it is time to honour not just those freedom fighters who fought against British rule but also those who fought against invaders, or those with the mindset of invaders. He said Bhagwat has engaged with the minority communities, including Muslims, and the RSS will continue to do so.

  Hosabale said that while the RSS does not claim credit for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, asserting that it was built by society, it has worked over the past 100 years to awaken Hindu consciousness.