Why Suvendu Adhikari wants 1,000 more RSS schools in West Bengal - All you need to know about Vidya Bharati Mission

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced plans to set up at least 1,000 schools run by the RSS’s education wing, Vidya Bharati, across the state within a year.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS is the ideological source of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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Adhikari said these schools will be set up in every district, village and panchayat. Adhikari made the announcement while speaking at the 74th Vidya Bharati Anniversary event at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture

Aadhikari urged the organization to take responsibility for imparting what he called “nationalist teachings” and invited its representatives to the secretariat to meet officials and take the initiative forward.

Vidya Bharati runs over 12,000 schools and 10,000 Bal Sanskar Kendras across the country. West Bengal has 313 such schools.

The schools are run in accordance with Vidya Bharati’s vision of developing a national education system that would help “build a young generation dedicated to Hinduism and filled with patriotic fervour”.

What are Vidya Bharati Schools?

“Physically, vitally, mentally and spiritually fully developed; able to face life’s challenges successfully; committed to the service of those of our brothers and sisters who live in the villages, forests, hills and slums; and are destitute and needy to be freed from the shackles of social evil and injustice, and thus dedicated, rich and devoted, they can contribute to building the vision of the rich and the rich in their harmony.”

Adhikari, a former TMC leader, was sworn in on 9 May 2026 and became the first BJP Chief Minister of West Bengal after the BJP won a majority in the 2026 assembly elections.

Four educational departments in one

Adhikari also proposed merging the state’s four education departments into one, saying there would be no separate administration for madrasa education, The Times of India reported.

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The chief minister urged Vidya Bharati to set up more schools in Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas, alleging that there were “more anti-national activities” in the districts, The Times of India reported.

Adhikari accused the previous Trinamool Congress government of “polluting” educational institutions and called on Vidya Bharati to take responsibility for imparting “nationalist teachings”.

“Mother was referred to as ‘amma’ and not ‘ma’… The syllabus was made in such a way that the lessons of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagara or Swami Vivekananda were neglected,” he said.

The Bengal chief minister also said that Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s slogan “One nation, one constitution, one flag, one leader” should be applied to the education ministry as well.

Mookerjee is among the ideologues of the BJP and was the founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner of the BJP.

Adhikari said the government would not allow an arrangement where the college department oversees all universities while another department oversees Aliah University.

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Aliah University is managed by the State Department of Minority Affairs.

“I greeted the top players,” The Times of India quoted the chief minister as saying. “Later, the Minority Affairs Department sent me a separate file with the names of 27 Muslim students.

We will not allow an arrangement where an undergraduate department looks after all universities while another department looks after Aliah University.

Adhikai questioned why the ministry had sent the names when it had already thanked 20 students, including Muslims, Jains and Buddhists.

“We will not accept an arrangement where the higher education department looks after all the universities while another department looks after Aliah University,” he said.