'A ban on RSS essential’: NCP (SP) leader
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Mumbai: After the RSS took charge of many of the educational institutions in Maharashtra, the quality of education there has deteriorated, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) leader Rohit Pawar said. He backed the Karnataka cabinet’s decision to introduce rules preventing RSS activities on government school and college premises, PTI reported.
“A ban on RSS in universities is essential. In Maharashtra, many universities have RSS ideologues in prominent positions, and since they took charge, the quality of education has deteriorated,” PTI quoted him.
He said that when it should be science that is discussed in educational institutions, the RSS should take charge of educational spaces to discuss Vedic studies. He opined that when the world advances towards AI, “we are falling behind”.
VIDEO | Mumbai: Reacting to the Karnataka cabinet’s decision to introduce rules preventing RSS activities on government school and college premises, NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar says, "A ban on RSS in universities is essential. In Maharashtra, many universities have RSS ideologues… pic.twitter.com/envfTLqgxL
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 16, 2025
The Congress-led Karnataka government on Thursday reissued an old circular from the office of the Commissioner of the Karnataka Public Instruction Department, prohibiting the use of government school grounds for private purposes.
The circular, originally dated February 7, 2013, clearly states that government school grounds and premises should be used exclusively for academic activities and not for any private or unrelated purposes.
With this move, the Siddaramaiah government appears to be preparing to ban Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activities on the premises of government and aided schools in the state. The step follows a letter from Minister for RDPR, IT and BT Priyank Kharge, requesting enforcement of such a ban.
The circular, signed by then Commissioner S.R. Umashankar, referred to a previous request to use government school grounds in Chamarajpet, Bengaluru, and stated that school premises should only be used for schoolchildren’s daily activities, such as sports, physical education, and academics.
It directs that school premises and grounds should not be used for activities unrelated to education and that requests for such purposes should not be forwarded to the Commissioner’s office.
According to sources, the state government plans to use this circular to enforce a ban on all RSS activities within school premises and grounds. They also confirmed that the matter will be discussed in the cabinet meeting on Thursday, October 16.
Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR), IT and BT Priyank Kharge had recently urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to prohibit RSS programs in public spaces and government offices, arguing that the organisation's activities were “contrary to India’s unity and the spirit of the Constitution.”