‘Conspiracy To Communalise Army’: Congress Slams Centre For Handing Over 62 Percent Of New Sainik Schools To RSS, BJP Leaders

The Congress on Wednesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government at the Centre after a report stated that over 62 percent of the new Sainik Schools in the country have been handed over to BJP-RSS leaders and close allies of BJP.

ALSO READ | ‘Smart Foreign Secretary’ To ‘RSS-BJP Mouthpiece’: P Chidambaram Hits Out At S Jaishankar Amid Katchatheevu Row

“This is clearly a conspiracy to communalize and politicize the Army,” Congress said in its reaction to the report published by The Reporters' Collective.

As per the report: "Collated information from the Union government’s press releases and Right to Information (RTI) replies show a concerning trend.”

ALSO READ | RSS Asserts Caste-Based Census Will Aggravate Social Inequalities After Amit Shah Says BJP Not Opposed To It

It noted: “the findings reveal that of the 40 Sainik School agreements so far, at least 62% were awarded to schools linked to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its allied organisations, politicians of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its political allies and friends, Hindutva organisations, individuals, and other Hindu religious organizations.”

The report also noted in the history of the Sainik School education system, this was the first time the government allowed private players to get affiliated with the SSS, receive “part financial support” and run their branches.

In 2021, the Centre opened doors for private players to run Sainik Schools in India. In their annual budget that year, the government announced plans to set up 100 new Sainik Schools across India. On October 12, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a cabinet meeting that approved a proposal to run the schools “as an exclusive vertical which will be distinct and different from existing Sainik Schools of MoD.”

According to the policy document, the government provides, through SSS, “an Annual Fee Support of 50% of fee (subject to an upper limit of Rs.40000/- per annum for 50% of the class strength (subject to an upper limit of 50 students) per year from Class 6 onwards till class 12, on Merit-cum-Means basis,” which means, for a school that has classes till 12th standard, SSS offers to provide support of maximum Rs 1.2 crore per annum. This is given as partial financial support to the students. Other incentives offered to the schools include “an amount of Rs.10 lakhs as training grant given annually based on academic performance of the students in class 12.”

What has Congress said?

While reacting on the report, the party said: “This is a conspiracy to establish the hateful ideology of RSS in the army.”

The party also listed the names of the people who have been assigned Sainik Schools of the country.

It said: “See the list of people associated with BJP-RSS who have been assigned to Sainik Schools of the country”.

It includes:

1 Pema Khandu (Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh)

2 BJP leader Sadhvi Ritambhara (UP)

3) BJP MLA Sarita Bhadauria (UP)

4) BJP MLA Mahant Balaknath Yogi (Rajasthan)

5 BJP leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Maharashtra)

6 BJP leader Hariram Ranwa (Rajasthan)

7 Former minister Sadbhau Khot (Maharashtra)

8 Nidhi Pathak, wife of BJP MLA Sanjay Pathak (Madhya Pradesh)

9 Former BJP General Secretary Ashokkumar Bhavsangbhai Chaudhary (Gujarat)

10 BJP MLA and Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary (Gujarat)

Congress also said: “Modi government should desist from such activities. The country will not tolerate this messing with the army.”