By: SANTOSH PATHAK

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has never openly admitted that the BJP is a subsidiary organization, but it is known to all that the policy, strategy, and statements of the Sangh are of great importance to the saffron party. This is the reason why the recent statement of RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on poverty, rising unemployment, and income inequality, is considered very important.

Various meanings are being drawn from the statement of Hosabale, who holds the position of number two after Mohan Bhagwat in the Sangh. The opposition parties are also trying to corner the government over his statement, but the big question is for whom this statement was meant. To whom and what message was Hosabale trying to convey through this statement? What is the political significance of his statement and how is the BJP government at the Centre seeing this statement?

At a webinar organized by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Dattatreya Hosabale advocated ending these problems, describing poverty, unemployment, and the ever-increasing income inequality between rich and poor as a demon-like challenge.

Speaking to IANS, Ashwini Mahajan, national co-convener of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, claimed that this statement has nothing to do with politics.

Targeting Congress, he said that the party doing politics on this statement is responsible for all these problems. He said that from time to time, many former Prime Ministers of the country have described these problems as a big challenge and the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi also considers it as a big challenge, so where did politics come in this?

Mahajan said, "What Dattatreya Hosabale has said is not new. The Sangh has been saying since the time of Dattopant Thengadi that the GDP model of economic development that we have adopted is not correct. Growing GDP does not mean that problems like poverty and unemployment are over." He said that Sangh has always believed that when we think about production, we should also think about employment, equality, and distribution.

While praising the Modi government, he said that the government is working a lot in this direction and towards making India self-reliant, which has started showing positive results, but a lot more needs to be done in the future and the Sangh is seeing it as an opportunity.

Responding to the question of whether Hosabale's statement is a message to the BJP, Mahajan said that while speaking at the same event, he had said that it is a message to the entire society more than the government and we should all unite against these demons - poverty, unemployment, and inequality. Explaining the strategy and plans of the Sangh, Mahajan said that the Sangh is not only talking but is also working on the ground to solve these problems.

He said that 15 affiliated organizations, including Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Sahakar Bharati, Vidya Bharti, Saksham, Deen Dayal Shodh Sansthan, Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, are working together in this direction and later on many other affiliated organizations will also be joining in this direction.

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch leader said that the Sangh believes that for the creation of a self-sufficient Atmanirbhar Bharat, and to eliminate problems like poverty, unemployment, and economic inequality in the country, there is a need to do a lot of work in many areas like promoting entrepreneurship, employment generation centers, self-employment, small-scale cottage industries, decentralization of production and this work cannot be done by the government alone, and society will also have to come forward for it.

"The people of the country, officials, technocrats, public representatives, social workers, and people associated with the industry, as well as people from every section of the society will have to come forward and play an important role in this," he said.

On how the BJP is looking at the statement, BJP's national spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal said that the Sangh always works on important issues of the society and keeps on highlighting them. These problems are in the country and the Sangh has said that instead of relying only on government jobs, the people of the country should move towards self-employment and the BJP government is also making continuous efforts in this direction.

Praising the efforts of the Modi government for continuously working to deal with inflation, and unemployment and to reduce the gap between the poor and the rich, the BJP spokesperson claimed that the rate of inflation in India is very low as compared to the US and European countries and the RBI is trying to reduce it further.

He added that while the government is continuously helping the poor by sending money directly to their accounts through various public welfare schemes, it is trying to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor by increasing the GST and direct tax collection. (KB/IANS)