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To counter RSS’ Balagokulam, Congress plans Jawahar Bal Manch for children
The party decided to launch Jawahar Bal Manch (JBM) nationwide following the success of a similar concept in Kerala, people familiar with developments said.
The Congress is launching a new organisation for children aged between 10 and 17 years to prepare them for the future and inculcate “constitutional values” in them in a bid to counter the Balagokulam initiative of the RSS.
The party decided to launch Jawahar Bal Manch (JBM) nationwide following the success of a similar concept in Kerala, people familiar with developments said.
The former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president in Kerala, Ramesh Chennithala, had launched Jawahar Balajana Vedi (JBV) as part of the state unit in 2007.
“The idea is to inculcate constitutional values and a spirit of nationalism and instil secular principles in children, besides developing their artistic and cultural talents,” JBV chairman GV Hari told HT.
“Apart from emphatically upholding slogans of democracy, secularism and socialism, JBM seeks to sustain in children the qualities of fraternity, equality and compassion as their ideals of life,” he said.
To kick-start the project, the JBM will organise an online National Dream Photography Contest on May 21, the 29th anniversary of the death of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The JBV in Kerala was set up in response to Balagokulam initiative of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This initiative was started in the southern state in 1975 and later registered as a nationwide cultural movement in 1981.
Through this, the RSS sought to inculcate moral values in children and weekly cultural and moral science classes are held for those up to 18 years of age.
Hari said the JBV in Kerala currently has a membership of 250,000 children and 32 of its previous members now hold key positions in the National Students Union of India (NSUI), a frontal organisation of the grand old party.
“In terms of branding, the JBM will be completely apolitical but we will aggressively promote it as a strong counter to the RSS, which runs the ‘operation catch them young’ in many parts of the country,” a senior All India Congress Committee (AICC) functionary said on condition of anonymity.
He said discussions in this regard were held with Congress president Sonia Gandhi last December. “The meeting decided to keep JBM non-political, but strong emphasis was given on its position and strategic importance in terms of sending the right message to the children’s community through activities and storytelling,” he added.
Hari said the Kerala model is being replicated in other states in view of its “huge success”.
“We have already run pilots in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab and will start soon in Rajasthan. We were going to give it a big launch push in April but had to defer it due to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Hari, who is overseeing the project’s expansion across the country.
Apart from student exchange programmes, JBM plans to hold annual cultural festivals in different states.
“We are also planning to develop a unified volunteer work force that is ready to lend a helping hand in times of distress. An online newsletter in English and Hindi is also on the cards,” Hari said.
“One additional language, other than English, Hindi or the mother tongue, will be taught to children, like we teach Gujarati or Punjabi in Kerala. While students can talk about any subject, we discourage political discussions,” he added.
There is a view in the Congress that the JBM should become a frontal organisation to enable it to expand its footprint nationwide with the help of the parent party’s organisational structure.
“But for that, the Congress Working Committee’s (CWC) approval is required,” said the AICC functionary quoted above.
The Congress currently has five frontal units – Seva Dal, Youth Congress, Mahila Congress, NSUI and the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC).
