Seva Dal - Revision history

->Invader2580 at 21:51, 11 December 2021

2021-12-11T21:51:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:21, 12 December 2021
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			{{Short description\|Volunteer organization of Indian National Congress}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=October 2019}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=October 2019}}
	{{Use Indian English\|date=October 2019}}		{{Use Indian English\|date=October 2019}}
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	\| name = Congress Seva Dal		\| name = Congress Seva Dal
	\| image =		\| image =
	\| type = [[Center		\| type = [[Centrism\|Center
	politics~~\|center~~]], Peaceful Militia		politics]], Peaceful Militia
	\| founded_date = 28 December 1923<ref>{{cite news \| url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/congress-sewa-dal-undergoes-overhaul-to-take-on-rss-for-2019-lok-sabha/articleshow/64845323.cms \| title=Congress Sewa Dal undergoes overhaul to take on RSS for 2019 Lok Sabha \| first=Shailvee \| last=Sharda \| date=3 July 2018 \| newspaper=The Times of India \| access-date=7 September 2020 }}</ref>		\| founded_date = 28 December 1923<ref>{{cite news \| url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/congress-sewa-dal-undergoes-overhaul-to-take-on-rss-for-2019-lok-sabha/articleshow/64845323.cms \| title=Congress Sewa Dal undergoes overhaul to take on RSS for 2019 Lok Sabha \| first=Shailvee \| last=Sharda \| date=3 July 2018 \| newspaper=The Times of India \| access-date=7 September 2020 }}</ref>
	\| founder = [[N. S. Hardikar\|Dr. Narayan Subbarao Hardikar]]		\| founder = [[N. S. Hardikar\|Dr. Narayan Subbarao Hardikar]]
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	In 1931, the [[Congress Working Committee]] decided to rename the Hindustani Seva Dal as the Congress Seva Dal, making it the central volunteer organisation of the Congress. Every province was to have a general officer commanding the provincial Seva Dal. The organisation also focused specifically on three categories of people: children, adolescents and adults. All Seva Dal members were required to take an oath, which, among other things, required them to stay aloof from political activity in the Congress.<ref name="Pandey2002">{{cite book\|last=Pandey\|first=Gyanendra\|title=The Ascendancy of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh: Class, Community and Nation in Northern India, 1920-1940\|year=2002\|publisher=Anthem Press\|location=London\|pages=36}}</ref> RSS founder [[Keshav Baliram Hedgewar\|Dr. K.B. Hedgewar]] was also associated with the Congress Seva Dal's predecessor - Hindustani Seva Dal<ref>{{cite web \|url=https://theprint.in/india/rss-founder-hedgewar-was-with-congress-and-other-facts-you-didnt-know/387491/\|title=RSS founder Hedgewar was with Congress, and other facts you didn’t know\|date=25 March 2020}}</ref>		In 1931, the [[Congress Working Committee]] decided to rename the Hindustani Seva Dal as the Congress Seva Dal, making it the central volunteer organisation of the Congress. Every province was to have a general officer commanding the provincial Seva Dal. The organisation also focused specifically on three categories of people: children, adolescents and adults. All Seva Dal members were required to take an oath, which, among other things, required them to stay aloof from political activity in the Congress.<ref name="Pandey2002">{{cite book\|last=Pandey\|first=Gyanendra\|title=The Ascendancy of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh: Class, Community and Nation in Northern India, 1920-1940\|year=2002\|publisher=Anthem Press\|location=London\|pages=36}}</ref> RSS founder [[Keshav Baliram Hedgewar\|Dr. K.B. Hedgewar]] was also associated with the Congress Seva Dal's predecessor - Hindustani Seva Dal<ref>{{cite web \|url=https://theprint.in/india/rss-founder-hedgewar-was-with-congress-and-other-facts-you-didnt-know/387491/\|title=RSS founder Hedgewar was with Congress, and other facts you didn’t know\|date=25 March 2020}}</ref>

	The task of imparting training and organising volunteers was given to the Dal in 1938, which was then headquartered in the Karnatak district of the [[Bombay Presidency\|Bombay presidency]]. Under Hardikar, an ~~Academy~~ for physical training was established and training camps established at several places across India. During the [[Civil Disobedience Movement]], the Seva Dal played an stellar role in enrolling new members in the Congress, organising activities like picketing and in arming the party with an organised but peaceful militia.<ref>{{cite web\|title=Indian National Congress - Constructive Programmes & The Congress\|url=http://www.aicc.org.in/new/constructive-programmes.php\|access-date=31 October 2012}}</ref> The significance of the Dal in the Civil Disobedience Movement can be gauged from the fact that in 1934, when the Movement came to an end and the colonial authorities lifted the ban on the Congress and its organisations, they continued to proscribe the Dal.<ref name="Pandey2002" />		The task of imparting training and organising volunteers was given to the Dal in 1938, which was then headquartered in the Karnatak district of the [[Bombay Presidency\|Bombay presidency]]. Under Hardikar, an academy for physical training was established and training camps established at several places across India. During the [[Civil Disobedience Movement]], the Seva Dal played an stellar role in enrolling new members in the Congress, organising activities like picketing and in arming the party with an organised but peaceful militia.<ref>{{cite web\|title=Indian National Congress - Constructive Programmes & The Congress\|url=http://www.aicc.org.in/new/constructive-programmes.php\|access-date=31 October 2012}}</ref> The significance of the Dal in the Civil Disobedience Movement can be gauged from the fact that in 1934, when the Movement came to an end and the colonial authorities lifted the ban on the Congress and its organisations, they continued to proscribe the Dal.<ref name="Pandey2002" />

	== Past Presidents		== Past Presidents

49.197.15.83 at 13:02, 16 August 2021

2021-08-16T13:02:50Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Congress Seva Dal
| image =
| type = [[Center
politics|center]], Peaceful Militia
| founded_date = 28 December 1923<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/congress-sewa-dal-undergoes-overhaul-to-take-on-rss-for-2019-lok-sabha/articleshow/64845323.cms | title=Congress Sewa Dal undergoes overhaul to take on RSS for 2019 Lok Sabha | first=Shailvee | last=Sharda | date=3 July 2018 | newspaper=The Times of India | access-date=7 September 2020 }}</ref>
| founder = [[N. S. Hardikar|Dr. Narayan Subbarao Hardikar]]
| location = Nagpur
| key_people = Lalji Desai (chief organiser)
| area_served = India
| product =
| mission = Establish fair form of democracy
| method = Ideological process based on gandhian thoughts also Physical training
| former name = Hindustani Seva Dal
| homepage = [https://www.congresssevadal.org/ Official Website]
| dissolved =
| footnotes =
}}
{{Indian National Congress sidebar}}
The '''Seva Dal''' is the grassroots front organization of the [[Indian National Congress]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.aicc.org.in/new/frontal-organisations.php | title = Frontal Organisations | author = All India Congress Committee | author-link = All India Congress Committee | publisher = Indian National Congress | access-date = 2009-10-25 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090927145447/http://www.aicc.org.in/new/frontal-organisations.php | archive-date = 2009-09-27 }}</ref> The organization has a chapter in all the [[States and territories of India|states of India]]. The members of the organization are known for wearing the [[Gandhi topi]]. It is headed by a ''Chief Organizer'', the present Chief Organizer is ''Lalji desai''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aicc.org.in/new/seva-dal-office-bearers.php| title = Congress Seva Dal | author = All India Congress Committee | author-link = All India Congress Committee | publisher = Indian National Congress | access-date = 2009-10-25}}</ref>
[[File:Seva Dal.jpg|thumb|Nehru in uniform with Seva Dal Volunteers in Allahabad]]

== History ==
In 1923, following the [[Flag Satyagraha]] at [[Nagpur]], many activists of the [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] were arrested and sentenced to prison. Unable to tolerate the rigors of prison, most of them tendered written apologies to the colonial authorities. However, members of the Hubli Seva Mandal, founded by [[N. S. Hardikar]] refused to yield. This uncompromising stance gained the attention of the Congress' national leadership that had gathered in Nagpur to participate in the [[satyagraha]]. It was here that the idea of establishing an organisation of volunteers to combat the [[British Raj|Raj]] was born. At the [[Kakinada]] session of the Congress in 1923, a board under Dr N S Hardikar was constituted for setting up the Dal. The Seva Dal was established as the Hindustani Seva Mandal on 1 January 1924. According to the resolution at Kakinada, the Dal was to work under the supervision of the Congress party's working committee.<ref>{{cite news|title=An ideologue at the Congress's service|url=http://www.expressindia.com/news/ie/daily/20000515/ian15030.html|access-date=31 October 2012|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=15 May 2000}}</ref> [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] was its first president.<ref>{{cite news|title=87-yr-old Seva Dal to get a facelift|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/87-yr-old-Seva-Dal-to-get-a-facelift/Article1-569511.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613232442/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/87-yr-old-Seva-Dal-to-get-a-facelift/Article1-569511.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 June 2013|access-date=31 October 2012|newspaper=The Hindustan Times|date=9 July 2010}}</ref> The Dal faced much initial opposition from Congressmen, who were opposed to the idea of creating a militia like organisation in the Congress, seeing it as a threat to the idea of civilian dominance and as being inconsistent with the idea of non-violence.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bharathi|first=K S|title=Encyclopaedia of eminent thinkers, Volume 7|year=2008|publisher=A K Mittal|location=New Delhi|pages=60, 61|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsIPV1lP2rsC&q=hindustani+seva+dal&pg=PA60|isbn=9788170226840}}</ref> Umabai Kundapur was the founding president of the women's wing of the Dal.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kamat|first=Jyotsna|title=Biography of a Remarkable Woman (1892-1992)|url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/women/kundapur.htm|access-date=31 October 2012}}</ref> [[Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay]] was closely associated with the organisation, especially in the 1930s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kumar|first=Radha|title=The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India 1800-1990|year=1997|publisher=Zubaan|location=New Delhi|pages=55|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=68xTBT1-H4IC&q=hindustani+seva+dal&pg=PA55|isbn=9788185107769}}</ref>

In 1931, the [[Congress Working Committee]] decided to rename the Hindustani Seva Dal as the Congress Seva Dal, making it the central volunteer organisation of the Congress. Every province was to have a general officer commanding the provincial Seva Dal. The organisation also focused specifically on three categories of people: children, adolescents and adults. All Seva Dal members were required to take an oath, which, among other things, required them to stay aloof from political activity in the Congress.<ref name="Pandey2002">{{cite book|last=Pandey|first=Gyanendra|title=The Ascendancy of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh: Class, Community and Nation in Northern India, 1920-1940|year=2002|publisher=Anthem Press|location=London|pages=36}}</ref> RSS founder [[Keshav Baliram Hedgewar|Dr. K.B. Hedgewar]] was also associated with the Congress Seva Dal's predecessor - Hindustani Seva Dal<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theprint.in/india/rss-founder-hedgewar-was-with-congress-and-other-facts-you-didnt-know/387491/|title=RSS founder Hedgewar was with Congress, and other facts you didn’t know|date=25 March 2020}}</ref>

The task of imparting training and organising volunteers was given to the Dal in 1938, which was then headquartered in the Karnatak district of the [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay presidency]]. Under Hardikar, an Academy for physical training was established and training camps established at several places across India. During the [[Civil Disobedience Movement]], the Seva Dal played an stellar role in enrolling new members in the Congress, organising activities like picketing and in arming the party with an organised but peaceful militia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Indian National Congress - Constructive Programmes & The Congress|url=http://www.aicc.org.in/new/constructive-programmes.php|access-date=31 October 2012}}</ref> The significance of the Dal in the Civil Disobedience Movement can be gauged from the fact that in 1934, when the Movement came to an end and the colonial authorities lifted the ban on the Congress and its organisations, they continued to proscribe the Dal.<ref name="Pandey2002" />

== Past Presidents
Rameshwar Neekhra

== Controversies==
Colonial Government of India banned Seva Dal in 1932 for setting up a women's army. The ban was never lifted.<ref>{{cite book|last=Choudhary|first=Valmiki|title=Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya: Portrait of a Rebel |date=June 2003|isbn=9788170170334|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BIesPzzLIuUC&q=ban+on+sewa+dal&pg=PA69}}</ref>

West Bengal government banned Seva Dal in 1948. Jawaharlal Nehru got the ban lifted.<ref>{{cite book|last=Choudhary|first=Valmiki|title=Dr. Rajendra Prasad: Correspondence and Select Documents, Volume 9|year=1987|isbn=9788170230120|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fBn4koVBVY4C&q=sewa+dal+ban&pg=PA294}}</ref> on the principle that bans are justified only under exceptional circumstances.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Indian National Congress}}

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1924]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress organisations]]
[[Category:Military wings of political parties]]