RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale says conversion, infiltration causing population imbalance

Taking the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)'s studied push on population control forward, general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Wednesday said that there is a need for a population control policy for people of all religions.

Hosabale said that there is a concern about population explosion, and that India is a country of young people. “What if in the next five decades we become a country of the old, like countries such as China and Japan. We must be mindful of our resources,” he told reporters at Prayagraj.

Hosabale was speaking after the four-day annual meet of the RSS executive committee, the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal Baithak (ABKMB). This is the second time in a month that the Sangh has spoken about the need for a policy for population control; in his Vijayadashami speech in October, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that such a policy should be applicable to all Indians for the next five decades.

Hosabale said that there is a population imbalance in our country. “Religious imbalance has led to the divisions of countries; India has gone through it as well. East Timor was born after it broke away from Indonesia. People should be made aware of these issues,” Hosabale said.

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He further added that due to the emphasis on population control from the last 40-50 years, the average population of each family has come down from 3.4 to 1.9, and that there will be a time when the population of youth in India will decrease and the population of old people will rise. Conversion was a reason for the decreasing number of Hindus, and that infiltration in border areas has added to the problem, he said.

At the RSS meet, the issue of population control, education in regional languages, need for women empowerment, etc. were some of the other topics that were discussed. A detailed action plan to expand the Sangh and its affiliates was also discussed.

Hosabale said that by the end of 2024, the RSS plans to reach every division in the country, and work in 99 per cent areas had been completed. “Branches have been opened up to the divisional level in Chittoor, Braj and Kerala provinces as well. There were 54,382 sangh branches in the country; today, there are 61,045 branches,” Hosabale said.

Hosabale said that the right-wing body has found more takers in the Northeast, an area where it has traditionally had a lesser footprint. He said that invitations for the Sarsangchalak are coming from states like Tripura and Meghalaya.

As the Sangh prepares to celebrate its centenary in 2025, Hosabale said that 3,000 young people have come forward as ‘centenary vistakars’ to work for the purpose.