Rahul to academicians: you are not alone in RSS fight

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday reached out to academicians, who accused the RSS of snatching way autonomy of educational institutions and imposing a centralised thought on college campuses across the country.

During a two-hour interaction with college professors, lecturers, Rahul assured them that the Congress would restore their autonomy, freedom of thought and independence if it came to power in the next Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress president also launched a scathing attack on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who earlier this week had reached out to the intellectuals, professionals and people across various sections of the society through a three-day interactive programme.

Rahul attacked Bhagwat for his remarks on organising the entire nation saying it smacked of arrogance.

“Who are you to organise the nation Mr Mohan Bhagwat? The nation will organise itself. Are you some god that you are going to organise the nation of 1.3 billion people? It is a fantasy and this fantasy will be smashed in the next couple of months,” the Congress president said.

A section of the academics criticised the appointment of ad-hoc lecturers and professors in colleges and said he would do away with the practice when the Congress comes to power.

Some professors expressed concern over the low public expenditure on education and wanted it to increase to 6% of the GDP as suggested by the National Knowledge Commission and the inadequate pension under the New Pension Scheme.

Rahul asked the academics to meet the members of the Congress' Manifesto Committee headed by former Union minister P Chidambaram so that their suggestions could be incorporated in the party's vision document for the 2019 General Elections.

“I understand you feel under pressure, you feel under threat, you feel that an ideology is being imposed on you, one syllabus has now suddenly become acceptable to every single institution in India. I want you to understand and realise that you are not alone when you are fighting this battle,” Rahul told the academics.