The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) aligned Vidya Bharati will set up five new universities across the country. The development was confirmed by the national organising secretary of the Vidya Bharati, Yatindra Sharma at a function in Uttarakhand Haridwar. “The purpose ( of the new universities) is to bring positive changes to education," Sharma was quoted as saying by a leading newspaper.

RSS has long been involved in school education in the country and is now gearing up to focus on higher education through its organisation Uchch Shiksha Sansthan. It has already opened Chanakya University in Karnataka’s Bengaluru and another varsity is under development in Assam’s Guwahati.

A total of 200 students have enrolled for the first batch of the university in Bengaluru. About 50 students from the VIdya Bharati schools will be provided free education at this university.

Emphasizing that the RSS-run educational institutions were open to students, from all classes, castes, and creeds, Sharma said that a “good number" of students in their 29,000 schools were from Muslim and Christian communities.

The RSS-aligned Vidya Bharati recently announced a campaign to raise awareness about the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 introduced by the Centre. The campaign sets to highlight aspects of “India-centric education”, and inspire “dignity of labour” with skill education proposed from class 6 and encourage “mother tongue" in competitions themed on NEP.

The campaign began on September 11. Announcing it, Shriram Araowker, general secretary of the organisation that with their large network of schools around the country, they aimed to help the government in the implementation of NEP.

Calling the NEP an India-centric policy, Araowker added that it should reach the remotest parts of the country.

The campaign involves discussion on the scope, scale and impact of the reforms under the NEP. Additionally, MyNEP Competition and other NEP-themed popular contests are also being organised.