Author: K Balasubrahmanyam/New
Delhi
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 10, 2002
Media management of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh is going to get a fillip with V Ram Madhav, a young blood
from Andhra Pradesh taking over the charge as additional spokesperson of
the organisation.
Of late, realising the importance
of media management, the RSS top brass has assigned Mr Madhav to streamline
its 28 media centers, popularly known as Viswa Samvad Kendra, set up in
all major cities and dissiminate the information instantly to the lower
rung cadre. The media centres, though computerised, are still groping in
dark as they were unable to understand how to go ahead in conveying the
views of the RSS on seveal national issues including their relations with
its political outfit - Bharatiya Janata Party. So far, the media centres
are confined only to pick up few media reports and forward them to other
centres.
Mr Madhav, who made his debut on
Wednesday, told The Pioneer that his immediate task was to project the
correct image of his organisation counter their detractors arguments that
the RSS was being considered as an communal and backward looking. Besides,
Mr Madhav is also asked to interact with the intelligentia and garner their
support to the organisation. It is a part of the RSS' new strategy - building
up a brigade of "fellow travellers."
"A massive disinformation campaign
is going on against as we never involved in self-promoting exercise. Now,
the RSS has taken the media management one of its main activity to put
the record the straight and remove the misconceptions in the minds of the
people," he said.
"Despite the fact that the RSS sakhas
(units) have reached all time high 45,000 in the country there is a disinformation
campaign in the media that they have gone down. In the south Indian cospomopolitan
city Bangalore alone more than 350 sakahas are effectively running. A seperate
sakha is being run exclusively for software professions where more than
a hundred engineers take part everyday," he said adding that a separate
sakha was being conducted for medical professionals in Hyderabad. Mr Madhav
informed that a two-day interactive session with several national and internatinal
intellectuals was organised in Hyderabad in which entire top leadership
of the RSS participated and requested them to be a fellow traveller.
