Pracharak

(“director”) In the Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a conservative Hindu
organization whose express purpose is
to provide the leadership cadre for a
revitalized Hindu India, the pracharaks
are the full-time RSS workers who provide the link between the local units,
known as shakhas (“branches”), and the
RSS higher authorities. The RSS is a highly
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Prabhupada, A.C. Bhaktivedanta
authoritarian organization, with all
power ultimately vested in a single,
unelected leader, the sarsanghchalak,
and the pracharaks are the crucial link
between this highly centralized leadership and the highly decentralized local
units. The pracharaks are responsible
for coordinating and managing RSS
activities in their area, as well as for
reporting on these at RSS meetings at
various levels; they may also be sent out
on loan to provide leadership to RSSaffiliated organizations. As a rule,
pracharaks are completely devoted to
the RSS cause, and most have been associated with the RSS since childhood.
Their ethos is one of service and sacrifice to the RSS, and by implication to the
country as a whole: They are generally
unmarried, have no other employment,
receive no salary from the RSS (although
the local unit generally provides their
living expenses), and are famous for living a simple and spartan lifestyle. Most
of them are also well educated and are
selected for their ability to get along
well with others. For further information see Walter K. Andersen and
Shridhar D. Damle, The Brotherhood in
Saffron, 1987; and Daniel Gold,
“Organized Hinduisms: From Vedic
Truth to Hindu Nation,” in Martin Marty
and R. Scott Appleby (eds.), Fundamentalisms Observed, 1991.