Uttar Pradesh: ABVP to promote social harmony

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will now fan out into the villages in Uttar Pradesh to promote social harmony and create awareness against social evils.

The programme will begin from May 1 and continue till June 15. Interestingly, the ABVP programme will coincide with the Samajwadi cycle yatras that are also beginning on May 1. Samajwadi workers — majority of them form youth wings — will also travel into the rural interiors of the state to explain the achievements of the Akhilesh government and understand the problems of the people. “The ABVP has launched this programme to connect students and volunteers at the village level. ABVP volunteers from every district will spend about 7 days in a village during which they will interact with the local people and create awareness on various issues. They will focus specially on backward and dalit classes in the villages,” said Dharampal, a senior RSS functionary.

According to sources, students will be required to create awareness about the various schemes of the Modi government, including Gram Uday and Swachchh Bharat, that are designed for the deprived sections of society.

“We have given them a 13-point charter which includes topics like alcoholism, literacy, water conservation, child labour, malnutrition, sports, dowry, female foeticide, women’s security, corruption, agriculture, self employment and hygiene. The ABVP volunteers will discuss these issues with the local people, inform them of the laws on these issue and convince them to eradicate social evils,” he explained.

The ABVP programme, apparently, will work as a backup for the BJP campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections.

“Through the ABVP volunteers, we want to connect with the youth. These will not be sermons because the ABVP activists will stay in the village for a week, familiarise themselves with the local people and then initiate informal discussions. This is a new experiment which will prove much more beneficial than election speeches that are a monologue of sorts,” said a BJP leader.

The programme is being held at a time in May and June when majority of the students are relatively free.

“Examinations are over and there is time before the next session begins, and we are utilising this free time of ABVP members. Apart from helping the BJP campaign, the programme will also be a learning experience for the ABVP activists, many of whom want to take up a career in politics,” said a BJP leader.