NEW DELHI: The Vivekananda International Foundation, the offspring of the Vivekananda Kendra set up by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak Eknath Ranade, and the India Foundation are the new kids on the block for retired officials looking to be re-absorbed into the government or at least being part of a “relevant” policy group close to the government at the centre.

The little known Vivekananda Foundation sprung into national prominence when three of its senior members, Ajit Doval,Nripendra Mishra and PK Mishra were appointed as National Security Advisor, Principal Secretary and Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister respectively. Doval as the Director of VIF had been in close touch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi even before the Lok Sabha elections, known to have been advising him on policy matters.

This was sufficient to set the cat amongst the pigeons for retired officers from the diplomatic corps, defence, administrative service, police to queue up to join the Vivekananda Foundation that has within weeks replaced the Observer Research Foundation, funded by the well known Ambani business house. ORF that was once the bustling ‘think tank’ following and appreciating government policy for both the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata party at the time is now a pale shadow of its former self, with activity having shifted with Delhi’s elite resource pool to the RSS backed Foundation.

Doval has been replaced as the Director of the Foundation by former Chief of the Army Staff and Founder Vice Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority General NC Vij. Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal is the Dean, Centre for International Relations and Diplomacy of the Foundation, Satish Chandra, former Deputy National Security Advisor is the Dean for the Centre for National Security and Strategic Studies, Dr Bibek Debroy, economist, is the Dean for the Centre for Economic Studies, Academic with “historical and civilisational studies expertise” Dr Dilip K.Chakrabarti, is the Dean for the Centre by the same name, Former Secretary Dr M.N.Buch, is the Dean for the Centre for Governance and Political Studies.

Further fuelling the perception about the growing importance of VIF is the appointment of journalist A. Surya Prakash as Chairman of the Prasar Bharati Board. He was with the Foundation as a “distinguished fellow.” His appointment is for three years.

Other Distinguished Fellows, some of whom have like others gravitated to VIH in recent months include former ambassadors TCA Rangachari, Prabhat P.Shukla, Tariq Karim; retired military officers Lt General R.K.Sawhney, Vice Admiral Raman Puri and retired Secretary (Research and Analysis Wing) C.D.Sahay.

Retired GOC 15 Corps Lt General SA Hasnain is a ‘Visiting Fellow” and has rumoured, off and on, as being next in line for the Governorship of Jammu and Kashmir. So far he has not made the grade.

VIF is credited with formulating policy, and advising the BJP even before the Lok Sabha elections.It is part of the RSS infrastructure, and clearly embraced by the RSS and the BJP that regard it as its own. This despite VIF’s own description of itself as “independent” that flies in the face of its links with the Vivekananda Kendra managed by the RSS. The government embraces VIF with its papers and views carrying resonance and weight with ruling power circles.

This makes it a bee-hive for foreign governments with official delegations from UK,US, China, France amongst the many who have interacted with VIF at different levels in the recent past.

A second organisation India Foundation, quieter and lesser known, has also been no less dramatic in its rise during the eight years since it was set up with the efforts of RSS leader Ram Madhav who is now a BJP general secretary.

The BJP that was seen as having a dearth of intellectuals sought to make up the lacuna through an aggressive effort that was accelerated after 2004 when the Congress led UPA first came to power. The IF and India Foundation came into existence as a result, and are now the current policy groups associated with the government. Both, backed by the RSS, describe themselves as “independent.”

The India Foundation has on its board of directors Ram Madhav, Shiv Sena minister Suresh Prabhu, NSA's son Shaurya Doval, who heads an investment and strategic advisory firm Zeus Caps, and BJP MP Jayant Sinha who is a key advisor to the PM now. In that sense it has provided Prabhu and Sinha to the government, both of them in influential positions. Prabhu although from the Shiv Sena has ignored the differences between his parent political party and the BJP to remain with the Modi Cabinet. Sinha is seen as the whiz kid --from IIT to Harvard to Modi’s Council of Ministers---and is also the son of former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha.