GANDHINAGAR (TIP): BJP-ruled Gujarat may follow Chhattisgarh in al lowing government employees to join the RSS.

A senior official of the state general administration department (GAD) said the state government is considering delisting the RSS from its “negative list of organisations” which government employees cannot join.

Senior cabinet minister Nitin Patel did not deny the move but said the matter has not yet been discussed formally as the state assembly session is in session. “We will decide after examining the Chhattisgarh government’s order,” Patel said.

In an order issued on February 23, the Chhattisgarh government had allowed government staff to join RSS saying its rule dating back to 1965, restricting government staff from taking part in political activity , “does not apply to the RSS”.

Earlier, in 1999, the then Gujarat CM Keshubhai Patel had made a similar attempt, but withdrew his orders soon following Congress-led protests. But this time, the Gujarat government might allow saffronisation of its employees using the Chhattisgarh government’s argument that RSS is not a political organisation.

“Employees of the state government cannot join political parties or communal institutions, but the RSS falls in the category of cultural and social institutions.So government employees can be permitted to join it,” said the GAD official.

Currently , as per the Gujarat Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, RSS figures in the list of organisations that employees can’t join.