Bengaluru: RSS 3-day Annual National Meet Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) was inaugurated by Sarasanghachalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat and Sarakaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale by offering floral tributes to Bharat Mata at the premises of Janaseva Vidyakendra, Channenahalli, Bengaluru.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Sahasarkaryavaha Mukunda CR addressed the Media on the inaugural day of Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha. He said that the total number of functionaries attending the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) is 1482.
Every year, the ABPS session starts with paying homage and tributes to prominent personalities of the nation and society, including RSS functionaries, who departed us. Mukunda CR informed that the ABPS paid homage to recently departed luminaries, namely Swami Pranavananda Tirthatthapadar, Pujya Siyaram Baba, Pujya Saint Sugrivanand ji Maharaj, Shirish Maharaj More, Dr Manmohan Singh, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Dr Rajagopal Chidambaram, Vivek Debroy, M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Shyam Benegal, Pritish Nandy, S. M. Krishna, Maharana Mahendra Singh, Kameshwar Chaupal, Smt. Tulasi Gowda known as the Encyclopedia of Forest, Renowned Kannada writer N D’Souza, popular actor Sarigama Viji, Eminent educationist Doreswamy Naidu, Smt. Sukri Bommagouda, Former Kshetra Sanghachalak of Dakshin Madhya Kshetra Parvatarao, Purv Vishwa Vibhag Sanyojak Shankar Tatvawadi, Dinanath Batra, Dr. Govind Naregal, VHP functionary B. N. Murthy, Former Union Minister Debendra Pradhan and many others.
At the ABPS, most of our time will be spent on analysing and planning Sangh’s work, he said. This year is the 100th year and we are expanding and consolidating. The ABPS will discuss, deliberate and analyse the social impact of its work and bringing change in society.
Speaking on the highlights of the RSS Shakha work, he informed that a total of 83,129 Shakhas are held every day at 51, 570 places which is an increase of over 10,000 shakhas from last year when it was 73, 646. Weekly Milans have increased by 4,430 from last year, where was the total number of Shakhas and Milans is 1,15,276.
Sah Sarkaryavaha Mukunda CR laid out the nationwide statistics of the RSS Shakha’s as of 2025 as follows:
• Total Places: 51,570
• Total Shakha (Daily): 83,129
• Total Milan (Weekly): 32,147
• Total Mandali (Monthly): 12,091
• Total Shakha+Milan+ Mandali: 1,27,367
Sah Sarkaryavaha said that while the RSS is working towards expansion of its work during its centenary year, it is concentrating more on rural Mandals. As per RSS administrative understanding, the country is divided into 58,981 rural mandals out of which daily shakhas are happening in 30,717 mandals and weekly milans in 9,200 mandals. The total of 39,917 is an increase of 3,050 compared to last year and an increase of 67%.
He informed that last year, the Sarsanghachalak invited Karyakartas who could spare 2 full years for the expansion and consolidation of Sangh work. Honouring his call, 2,453 Swayamsevaks, termed Shatabdi Vistaraks, left their homes and dedicated themselves to the expansion and consolidation of Sangh’s work.
Another highlight he said, was the increase in the number of youth joining Sangh work. Every year, lakhs of youth, especially those in the age group of 14-25, join the RSS as Swayamsevaks. A total of 4,415 Prarambhik Vargas (Initial Camp) was held across the country. 2,22,962 attended these Vargas, among which 1,63,000 were in the age group of 14-25. More than 20,000 of these attendees were aged more than 40.
Every year new students and youth are being added to our organisation, he said. We also have a provision for joining the RSS through the website (www.rss.org). Since 2012, more than 12,72,453 people have shown interest in joining the RSS through the website, among which more than 46,000 were women. Thousands of such women Karyakartas are involved in various activities of Sangh in different spheres. Many who expressed interest in joining RSS through the website are from Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and outside Bahrat too. The major takeaway of these statistics is that the RSS is a youth organisation going by the number of people joining it, he said.
The Sah Sarkaryavaha then briefed the media on the highlights of the annual report that was presented by the Sarkaryavaha Dattatreya Hosabale. He informed that Sarsanghchalak’s planned tour program across the country took him to prominent places and met prominent people. He also visited Arunachal Pradesh where he visited the Donyi-Polo temple. He visited the native village of Shaheed Abdul Hamid and released a biography on him.
The Sarsanghachalak and Sarkaryavaha met the heads and top functionaries of Hindu and spiritual organisations with a global presence such as ISCKON, Ramakrishna Mission, BAPS, Bharat Sevashram, Chinmaya Missions in Mumbai. The plight of Hindus in Bangladesh and the ways to address the issues of Hindus in India and abroad and strengthen our society through a collaborative effort were discussed. Such meetings with Dharmic organisations happen once every 2 years and this was the 5th such meeting, he informed.
The Sarkaryavah also visited Kanyakumari for a Seva Bharati event, where more than 60,000 women came together who are part of self-help groups from across the country.
He then gave details of the activities of the Seva Vibhag. He said that a total of 89,706 service activities are taking place across the country, out of which 40,920 are in the field of education, 17461 are related to medical service, 10,779 in the area of self-reliance, and 20, 546 related to other activities related to social awakening. He informed the RSS has special initiatives for rural development such as Gram Vikas (Rural Development), and Gau Samrakshan.
Special attention is being paid to Samajik Samaratasata (Social harmony) where RSS Swayamsevaks have concentrated on areas where much change is needed due to a few unfortunate incidents. At 1084 places, our Swayamsevaks have put efforts to eradicate wrong social practices like banning entry to mandirs and prohibiting drinking water from a single source. Swayamsevaks have been working to stop such abnormal practices and bring harmony to society. At more than 260 places, Swayamsevaks have helped sanitary workers with food, hygiene, medical examination, implements that help them at work, etc.
As every year, an analysis of the national scenario is made by Sarkaryavaha Dattareya Hosbale ji. Mukunda Ji provided a few highlights of the same. Among the highlights he listed, was the Maha Kumbh of Prayagraj, which heightened cultural pride and aroused self-confidence for the entire nation. This special Maha Kumbh gave a wonderful glimpse of Bharat’s spirituality and cultural heritage as well as made us realise the inner nobility of our society. He said that the Uttar Pradesh State Government and the Union Government deserve congratulations from the entire nation for creating and running the appropriate and smooth infrastructure and management system of this huge Kumbh.
He then informed that during the Maha Kumbh, many Sangh-inspired institutions and organizations organized various types of Seva, dharmic, cultural, educational, and ideological events. He mentioned two special efforts made by Sangh Karyakartas.
Netra Kumbh, organised by Saksham, arranged for free eye tests, the distribution of spectacles and cataract surgery, if required, for the people coming to Kumbh. Many hospitals, health institutions and other social organisations with a spirit of service extended full cooperation in this work. Providing the details of the activity, he said that 2,37,964 benefited from the free eye examination, while 1,63,652 received free spectacles and 17,069 underwent Cataract surgery for free. More than 300 eye specialists and 2800 workers worked for this Seva work which lasted for 53 days, he informed.
Another noteworthy activity was the “One Thali-One Thaili (Bag) Campaign”, organised by the Paryavaran Samrakshan Gatividhi in collaboration with many organisations in the country. This campaign, aimed at not using thermocol plates or polythene bags in Kumbh, led to a large collection of steel plates and cloth bags across the country. The Karyakartas collected a total of 14,17,064 plates and 13,46,128 bags from 7258 centres by 2241 institutions and organisations, which were distributed in various pandals in Kumbh. This campaign was a unique experiment in itself and hugely successful in creating environmental awareness and taking the idea of a clean Kumbh to the masses.
Speaking on the statement issued by the Sarkaryavaha on the occasion of the 300th birth anniversary of renowned Lokmata Ahilya Devi Holkar, he said that she was an embodiment of qualities like ideal administration, judicial reforms dharmic faith, motherly affection towards the people, and impeccable character. In light of that, he said that effective, wide-ranging programs were held to celebrate the anniversary at many places in the country. Many social and educational institutions made successful efforts to bring the inspiring personality of Lokmata in front of society through various types of events.
Addressing the situation in Manipur in the annual report, Mukunda Ji conveyed that the state has been going through a disturbed situation for the past 20 months. Due to incidents of widespread violence between the two communities there, mutual distrust and animosity have arisen. The people have had to suffer many kinds of hardships However, the action-oriented decisions taken by the Central Government at the political and administrative level including bringing the President’s rule, have raised hopes towards the improvement of the situation. But it will take a long time for a natural atmosphere of cordiality and trust to emerge, he said.
He informed that during this entire period, the Sangh and Sangh-inspired social organisations worked together to provide relief and succour to the people affected by the violence. They have also maintained constant contact with various communities and tried to control the situation by giving the message of maintaining patience. All these efforts for harmony are still going on and will take a long time. The Sangh’s earnest request is that all the communities of Manipur should leave aside their anguish and distrust and make a conscious effort for social unity with mutual brotherhood, he said.
He further highlighted that many forces pose a challenge to national unity and integrity by using one or the other divisive agendas in the name of language, delimitation, region, North-South divide, etc. However, our Karyakartas and many from our Vichar parivar are working towards resolving such divisive issues, especially in the Southern states.
The press briefing was followed by a question and answer session with the representatives of the media.
Answering a question on Sangh’s efforts in bringing peace in Manipur, Mukunda ji said that Sangh’s effort is more about bringing leadership and people of the tribal groups, Meities and Kukis, together and encourage them to discuss and come to a common understanding. Sangh is helping the people of Manipur by bringing communities together. Many leaders of both communities are in touch with us and meetings have been held in Imphal, Guwahati and Delhi to bring harmony. There are other aspects to the complex problem, but Sangh is trying its best to influence and connect people. Further, 100s of relief camps have been organised by Sangh swayamsevaks for refugees thrown from their own homes where food, shelter, and essentials were provided. There is some hope now after the President’s rule was imposed but it will take time, he said.
Regarding the question on North-South divide, he said that most of the issues are politically motivated. Regarding delimitation, the Home Minister himself has said that it will be done based on the ratio i.e. if the ratio of the Lok Sabha seats currently in Southern states will be held. Hence, the RSS has nothing much to say on this. However, the RSS believes that politically motivated actions like removing the rupee symbol, and raking up language issues must be addressed not by political leaders but by social and community leaders. Sangh stands for justice and believes that all issues can be resolved harmoniously, he said.
Answering a question on the status of RSS@100 and the demography of the Swayamsevaks since 1925, he said that there are more than 1 crore swayamsevaks in the country today. Swayamsevaks work in various sections of society such as in social service, trade unions, farmers, etc. Most of those who join RSS are between the ages of 12-14 and 20-15 years. Even though many join RSS even after 40, most join as kids. There has been a rise in the number of new Swayamsevaks joining the organisation. In Tamil Nadu, where we were lacking, we are getting new cadres and the number of Shakhas has crossed 4000. In Bihar and Odisha too, where we had a limited presence earlier, we are seeing an increase in the number of new Swayamsevaks. It must be noted that there is no opposition to RSS expansion work in any part of the country and even if there is opposition in some parts, it is not due to religious reasons but due to political reasons. But we believe this can be solved by talking and consultation, he said.
Answering a question on the language issue, Muknda Ji said that the RSS believes that Matru Bhasha (Mother Tongue) should be used not only in education but in all aspects of our daily lives. RSS has passed a resolution on the Matru Bhasha. He said that it is beneficial if one learns multiple languages. It is ideal if one knows Matru basha, a regional language which is the language of the place where we live, and a career language such as English which is for professional purposes. Sarsanghachalak Ji has conveyed in formal and informal gatherings that we must use Matru Bhasha in our daily lives and he has also said that people should learn languages from other regions too.
On the question on the resolution of the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh, Sah Sarkaryavaha said that the resolution will be taken by ABPS and the same will be shared to the media.
