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Government on right track but economic model needed: RSS
New Delhi, Sep 4
Rejecting criticism that it
was acting like a "remote control", the RSS said on Friday that the
Narendra Modi government was on the right track and that three days of
discussions with government leaders had been "very useful".
"Only
14 months have passed (since the government took power). There is more
time and a lot more is to be done. Whatever has been done so far, the
government's direction is fine, so is its dedication, commitment and
thinking. Its achievements are good," RSS joint general secretary
Dattatreya Hosabale told the media here.
"There cannot be 100 percent satisfaction for everyone," the 59-year-old added.
The
leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the ideological parent of
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the Modi government had raised
the aspirations and hopes of the people as never before and created a
sense of confidence both within and outside the country.
"That is the most welcome thing" about the government, he said.
The
RSS veteran, who interacts closely with the Modi-led government,
rejected Congress criticism that the RSS was acting like a remote
control of the ruling coalition.
"Those who remote controlled (the government) have no moral right to talk about remote control."
Replying
to a question that ministers were violating the oath of secrecy by
reporting to the RSS, he said: "We are not an illegal organisation. We
are also citizens of the country.
"We have every right to ask
ministers, who are also swayamsevaks. Where is the question of secrecy?
Swayamsevaks have become ministers."
Hosabale said he and his
colleagues told the government that India needed to go for an economic
model suited to it instead of aping the West which was facing a grave
economic crisis.
"These days people are rushing to cities from
villages in search of work, education and healthcare. The government
should provide these facilities in villages. We need an economic model
where people remain happily in villages," he said.
He said the
BJP-led government was led by "those who are allied to our ideology. We
had very useful discussions" with BJP leaders and ministers.
"This
was not a critical assessment of the government," he said. "Our people
work on the ground, we came together to provide valuable and useful
inputs to those in the government."
Hosabale said among the
subjects that figured in the BJP-RSS discussions were cross-border
terrorism, internal terrorism, rural development, ties with neighbouring
countries, and the country's cultural heritage.
He also pressed the need for policies to ensure social security and right to live with dignity.
"We
need an education to be Indian. Modern education should merge with
values. Education should be geographically accessible, economically
affordable and socially inclusive."
On the issue of
implementation of One Rank One Pension scheme, he was confident the
government would resolve the matter expeditiously.
On the
construction of a grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Hosabale said the RSS
only follows the footprints of Hindu religious leaders.
"RSS will wait for its construction as per the government's time-table as the issue is pending before the Supreme Court."
Prime Minister Modi attended the RSS-BJP meeting on Friday evening.