16, Oct 2015

Defence scientist and former Director General of DRDO Padmabhushan V K Saraswat, at present a member of the NITI Aayog, is the chief guest.
Written by Vivek Deshpande
Nagpur Published:Oct 16, 2015, 1:14
For the first time in the history of the RSS, a person on government assignment has been invited to the organisation’s Dussehra function here on October 22.
Noted defence scientist and former Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Padma Bhushan V K Saraswat, at present a member of the NITI Aayog, has consented to be the chief guest.
Asked if this is the first time that a person active in the government is coming for the RSS programme, a senior RSS functionary said, “Yes. In the past some who have earlier been associated with the government have come, like computer scientist Vijay Bhatkar. But it is for the first time that someone active on a government post is coming.”
Saraswat, 60, is described in the NITI Aayog profile as “India’s most gifted scientist and accomplished researcher in both basic and applied defence research.”