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RSS Pracharak is a post of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Pracharaks are full-time workers. They dedicate their lives to the propagation of the RSS ideology through personal contact, meetings, and public lectures. They devote themselves to lifelong celibacy, austerity and service to the RSS and the society, collectively forming the organisational backbone of the RSS.[1]

Etymology and meaning

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Pracharak derives from prachar, literally "propagate" or "spread." The term pracharak in the context of RSS has been translated as "missionary,"[2] "preacher,"[1][3] "propagator,"[4] and "propagandist."[5]

History

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In 1927, Hedgewar organised an Officers' Training Camp with the objectve of forming a corps of key workers, whom he called pracharaks. He asked the volunteers to become sadhus first, renouncing professional and family lives and dedicating themselves to the cause of the RSS. According to Jaffrelot, Hedgewar embraced this doctrine after it had been reinterpreted by militant nationalists such as Aurobindo. The tradition of renunciation gives the RSS the character of a `Hindu sect'.[6]

Development of the shakha network of the RSS was the main preoccupation for Hedgewar throughout his career as the RSS chief. The first pracharaks were responsible for establishing as many shakhas as possible, first in Nagpur, then across Maharashtra and eventually in the rest of India. P. B. Dani was sent to establish a shakha at the Benaras Hindu University and other Universities were similarly targeted to recruit new followers among the student population. Three pracharaks went to Punjab: Appaji Joshi to Sialkot, Moreshwar Munje to the DAV College in Rawalpindi and Raja Bhau Paturkar to the DAV College in Lahore. In 1940, Madhavrao Muley was appointed as the prant pracharak (provincial missionary) in Lahore.[7]

Once the shakhas had enough members, mukhya shikshaks (chief instructors) were established to run them, trained through an Instructors' Training Camps, and pracharaks supervised the operations at the district, division and state levels. Through the efforts of these pracharaks, the RSS grew rapidly: 18 shakhas in Maharashtra in 1928, 60 shakhas in 1930 and 125 shakhas in 1933. By 1940, the RSS had about 70,000 swayamsevaks all over India and 1,400 of them attended the Officers' Training Camp to become pracharaks.[8]

Some prominent pracharaks

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1925-1940


1940's

1950's

1970's

1980's

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Jaffrelot 1996, p. 40.
  2. ^ Golwalkar 1980, p. 539.
  3. ^ Clark-Deces 2011, p. 151.
  4. ^ Clark-Deces 2011, p. 206.
  5. ^ Venkatesan 2001.
  6. ^ Jaffrelot 1996, pp. 40–41.
  7. ^ Jaffrelot 1996, pp. 65–67.
  8. ^ a b Jaffrelot 1996, p. 68.
  9. ^ a b Jaffrelot 1996, p. 66.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Jaffrelot 1996, p. 67.
  11. ^ Jaffrelot 2007, pp. 158–159.
  12. ^ Jaffrelot 2011.
  13. ^ Jaffrelot 1996, p. 310.
  14. ^ Jaffrelot 1996.

Bibliography

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  • Bakaya, Akshay (2004). Anne Vaugier-Chatterjee (ed.). Lessons from Kurukshetra - The RSS Education Project. New Delhi: Manohar. ISBN 8173046042. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  • Clark-Deces, Isabelle (2011). A Companion to the Anthropology of India. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1405198929.
  • Golwalkar, M. S. (1980). Bunch of thoughts. Bangalore: Jagarana Prakashana.
  • Jaffrelot, Christophe (1996). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 978-1850653011.
  • Jaffrelot, Christophe (2007). Hindu Nationalism - A Reader. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13097-2.
  • Ramaseshan, Radhika (7 October 2009). "Last leg of pracharak era". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
  • Venkatesan, V. (13 October 2001). "A pracharak as Chief Minister". Frontline. Retrieved 2014-09-23.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)


Category:Sangh Parivar Category:Hindutva Category:Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh