Representative image. Photo: www.niti.gov.in
The NITI Aayog has declined to furnish information on the functioning of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
Replying to an RTI application seeking a copy of the registration certificate of the RSS for carrying out its function as an NGO, the Voluntary Action Cell of the Niti Aayog said the information was “personal” and “third-party information”. It cited Section 8(J) of the RTI Act, 2005 to refuse the information.
The application was filed by P.P. Kapoor, a Panipat-based RTI activist, with reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing the RSS as an NGO, in his address to the nation on the 79th Independence Day on August 15 this year.
Mr. Kapoor, in the RTI application filed on August 17, had also sought a certified copy of the “Aims and Objectives” of the RSS as per the registration record and the copies of annual audit reports, balance sheets, and annual income-expenditure reports submitted by the organisation to the Registrar General of Firms and Societies till date. However, in his reply, Deepak Nailwal, Central Public Information Officer, Voluntary Action Cell, said the information was “not available”.
To a query on the current office-bearers of the RSS, the CPIO replied that the information was available in the public domain and could be accessed on the Darpan portal.
Mr. Kapoor alleged that the information related to the RSS was being concealed on purpose. “Mr. Modi in his address to the nation on Independence Day said that RSS was a non-government organisation. He also praised RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in newspaper articles marking his 75th birthday. But this RTI reply had made it clear that RSS was an illegal organisation running without a registration,” Mr. Kapoor said in a press statement.
Published – September 18, 2025 10:23 pm IST
