'Don't politicise it': RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat says reservation should stay, urges beneficiaries to pass on opportunities

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said reservation should continue as long as social discrimination exists, asserting that affirmative action is rooted in social justice rather than politics.

Addressing a youth interaction summit, Bhagwat invoked the views of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and said the reservation system should be implemented in line with the architect of the Constitution's original vision.

'Reservation exists due to social reasons'

Bhagwat said reservations were introduced to address historical social discrimination and should remain in place until that inequality is eliminated. "I will go to what Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar thought about reservation. If we honestly follow his advice, then there is no problem. Reservation exists due to social reasons. As long as there is social discrimination, reservation will continue. Those who received it and benefited should pass it on," he said.

He added that reservation was never intended to be a permanent arrangement but a means of enabling social upliftment.

Calls for benefits to reach others

The RSS chief also referred to growing discussions around sub-categorisation within reserved communities, noting that demands for a more equitable distribution of benefits have emerged in several states.

"A few voices have started coming up that they received it, benefited, and now it should be given to others. There have been demands for categorisation in a few states. Supreme Court too had made an observation," Bhagwat said.

He argued that those who have already benefited from reservation should encourage opportunities for others within their communities.

"There is a stream, in those who get the reservation, that this is for our upliftment and not a permanent measure, and we have to take advantage of this, improve ourselves and make this useful for others who haven't got it yet. This should be encouraged," he added.

'Don't politicise reservation'

Bhagwat criticised the politicisation of reservation, saying the policy was introduced to strengthen social unity rather than become a political tool. "Politics should not be done over this. If all measures are properly implemented, soon its need would end. It will then be thought about. But politics was done over it, which creates bad blood. Actually, the measure was brought for social unity. The measure in itself is not wrong, but those who wield the sword are doing it in the wrong way intentionally. Unless that is cured, I don't see anything," he said.