At This RSS Meet, Talk Of A New Look For Men In Khaki

Nagaur: Top bosses of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS begin a three-day meeting in the Rajasthan town of Nagaur today to discuss key challenges that the BJP's ideological mentor says are facing the country. The meeting is being most watched, however, to see if a change in uniform will be announced.

The RSS will assess proposals that its famous khaki flared knee-length shorts should give way to full length trousers in blue or grey.

"Several proposals have come up for change in Ganvesh (uniform) and this will be discussed in the meeting...This will be about replacing knickers with full pants. Several proposals regarding its colour are also there but the colour will not be khakhi," senior RSS leader Manmohan Vaidya said on Thursday.

He said that the issue was debated in 2010 but there was no consensus and so it was deferred for five years. Discussion resumed last year, he added.
 Mr Vaidya said the meeting in Nagaur, between Jodhpur and Bikaner and over 250 km from state capital Jaipur, will be attended by RSS workers and leaders from all over the country.

Also attending are leaders of organisations affiliated to the RSS, including the BJP, whose president Amit Shah arrived in Nagaur on Thursday.

Among issues listed for discussion at the meeting are affordable healthcare and education.

The Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the highest decision making body of what is called the Sangh parivar or family, meets every year in March.

The RSS's khaki shorts have defined its cadres for over nine decades. But many senior members have reportedly suggested that a new uniform could attract more young people.

The RSS, set up in 1925, describes itself as the world's largest voluntary organization with six million members.