Calls Grow for Auditing India's Unregistered Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

A Karnataka minister has asked the RSS chief to disclose the organization’s finances and membership, highlighting the lack of legal accountability for the group that influences India’s government and education system.

India’s RSS, which claims more than 83,000 branches and millions of members, is not registered as a society, trust or company, allowing it to sidestep mandatory audits and public disclosures. Karnataka home minister Priyank Kharge formally requested RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on June 15, 2026, to reveal the organization’s finances, assets and office-bearers, but received no substantive reply. The RSS’s influence extends to education policy, university appointments and the broader cultural agenda, yet it operates through a network of affiliated entities that file reports, while the central body remains legally invisible.

In contrast, the RSS’s overseas arm, one outlet Swayamsevak Sangh, complies with U.S. nonprofit filing requirements. The author, Archbishop Joseph D’Souza, contends that this asymmetry undermines the principle that all powerful bodies should be answerable to the public, and calls for the RSS to register and disclose its operations.