RSS at 100: The structure, leadership and growth explained

RSS at 100: On March 30, 2025, Narendra Modi became the first Prime Minister of India to visit the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur, Maharashtra

“RSS is India’s banyan tree of immortal culture and modernisation,” said Modi, a former RSS pracharak, for the organisation which is the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The RSS turns 100th on October 2. Founded on Vijaya Dashami in 1925 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the RSS was established as a volunteer-based organisation with the goal of fostering cultural awareness, discipline, service, and social responsibility among citizens, according to a government statement issued on the occasion of RSS centenary event being held in Delhi on October 1. PM Modi is the chief guest of the event.

There are two main bodies of the RSS which take all important decisions – the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakarini (Executive Council), the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) or the ‘All India Representative Council’.

After the constitution and naming of the Sangh, the first meeting of the RSS was held at Dr Hedgewar’s residence in Nagpur on 9 May 1926. The meeting resolved the basics – to assemble every fortnight, and set up physical fitness gymnasiums, according to the ‘RSS; Roadmaps for the 21st Century” – the book by RSS functionary Sunil Ambekar.

A key meeting held on 12 December, 1926 decided to impart military education to the swayamsevaks at 6 am every Sunday. It was around this time that the structure of the RSS emerged. Since then, the RSS has grown from one shakha to more than 1,27,367 shakhas spread across 51,570 places in India.

“There is no sphere that is left untouched. For the armed forces, there is an organisation for ex-servicemen named Purva Sainik Parishad, for the welfare of those living near borders, there is Seema Jagran Manch, the lawyers’ body is known as Adhivakta Parishad,” Ambekar, the RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh, says in his book.

The organisational structure of the RSS is like any other organisation. There is a one basic difference though - after a certain level, only unmarried men who work full-time with the Sangh Parivar can rise in the ranks.

The Sangh comprises of about forty-four provinces or kshetras. Each kshetra has some prants and each prant is further divided into a collection of districts called vibhag. Each district has some twosn adn villahes caleld nagar, and each nagar has a collection of localities called basti.

Today, the organisation functions through six departments or pillars – sharirik (physical), sampark (outreach), prachar (publicity), bauddhik (intellectual), vyavastha (administrative) and sewa (service).

There are at least 46 other wings at national level under the departments and come under the ‘Sangh Parivar.’ For example, there departments like Kutumbh Prabidhan (work among families) and Gau Seva (Cow Welfare), to name a few. Also, every state has its own organisation. In all, there are over a hundred national RSS bodies.

The RSS chief described as its ‘Guide and Philosopher, usually nominated by the predecessor, holds the position for life and operates from Sangh’s Nagpur headquarters.

Hedgewar became Sangh’s first ‘person of authority’ or the Sarsanghchalak of the RSS on 10 November 1929.

The Sarkaryavahs or General Secretaries and Sah-Sarkaryavahas, the Joint General Secretaries work under the Sarsanghchalak. Apart from Hedgewar (1925 to 1940), the founder chief, RSS had four other Sarsanghchalaks before Bhagwat.

The other four are MS Golwalkar (1940 to 1973, Madhukar Dattatrya Deoras (1973-1994), Rajendra Singh (1994-2000) and KS Sudarshan (2000 to 2009).

Dattatreya Hosabale, who was the Sah-Sarkaryavah or the joint general secretary of the RSS since 2009, was elected the Sarkaryavah, the General Secretary at the two-day annual meeting of the Sangh's highest decision-making body Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) at Bengaluru on March 2021. Hosabale was re-elected as Sarkaryavah in March 2024 until 2027.

The Sarkaryavah is responsible for activities related to organisation across the country. Before, Hosabale, the RSS has had two general secretaries - Suresh Joshi and Gopal Mukund Huddar.

The six Sah-Sarkaryavah or Joint General Secretaries of RSS are: Krishna Gopal, CR Mukund, Arun Kumar, Ram Dutt Chakradhar, Atul Limaye and Alok kumar

Each Joint General secretary has his work cut out. Krishna Gopal for example is responsible for keeping in touch with other organisations such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) while Mukunda CR is in charge of the departments of physical and intellectual activities.

Most of the organisational work of the RSS is done through more than 1,27,367 shakhas across India. The precursor of the shakha system, according to Ambekar, was swadhyaya mandal or the study circles. Later, physical fitness programmes were added and training camps began and te daily shakha system commenced.

Among other positions withing the organisation such as ‘Vicharak’ or ideologues. There is also a ‘Pracharak’ who is an active, full-time volunteer to spread the RSS doctrine. PM Modi and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, for example were RSS Pracharaks, before shifting to the BJP.

Most of the Pracharaks devote themselves to a lifetime of celibacy and service to the organisation.

Generally, those who have attended three major training camps of the RSS known as, ‘Sangh Shiksha Varga’, are deputed as Pracharak. The Pracharaks are said to be instrumental in spreading the organisation from its roots in Nagpur to the rest of the country.

At present, there are roughly 6000 Pracharaks in the RSS.

Karyakarta or the active functionary is another important element in the RSS organisation. To become a Karyakarta, the RSS members undergo four levels of ideological and physical training in Sangh Shiksha Varg camps. Most of the Karyakartas are known as Grahastha Karyakartas, or householders, supporting the organisation part-time, while the rest are Pracharaks, who support the organisation full-time.

The head teacher and chief of a shakha is known as Mukhya-Shikshak while the executive head of a Shakha is called Karyawah. A group leader is called Gatanayak in Sangh parlance. Then there is a Swayamsevak or volunteer who attend the shakhas.