Bhubaneswar, Jan 25: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday charged that the RSS imprint was evident everywhere in the BJP-led NDA government and that the outfit wants to penetrate and control all institutions in the country.

"You currently have one institution called the RSS, mother of the BJP, which believes it is the only institution in the country. They want to penetrate into all other institutions and control them," he said.

The mindset has led to chaos everywhere in the country, including areas of judiciary and education, he maintained.

"We believe India should be run by its 1.2 billion people. One set of people, one ideology should not run the country," he said during an interaction with intellectuals in Bhubaneswar.

The Congress leader also said that his party has a view different from the ruling BJP when it comes to functioning of key institutions.

"Our party has a different view on how key institutions should be supporting the country. It respects decentralisation, independence of institutions and constitutional advances," he asserted.

Gandhi also said "monopolisation and capture of the education and healthcare system in the country needs to be challenged".

"A middle-class person has to pay crores of rupees to get good quality education. The same is the case in the healthcare system. That needs to be challenged,"the Congress chief added.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Tuesday said a 7-km railway barricade has been approved for the Madikeri division and 20 km for the Nagarhole division in 2025–26 to curb human-elephant conflict in the regions.

Responding to a proposal raised by BJP MLC Suja Kushalappa during Zero Hour in the Legislative Council, he assured that work on the proposed railway barricades would begin soon.

Citing the death of a 17-year-old girl in an elephant attack on February 28 and that of a tribal woman on March 9 in the state, the minister said these deaths caused by elephant attacks were "extremely painful".

"Human life is very precious and cannot be valued in monetary terms. The Forest Department is taking all measures to prevent human-wildlife conflict."

The minister further said steps such as maintenance of elephant-proof trenches and solar-powered fencing were being undertaken, while two elephant task forces were currently in operation.

Orders have also been issued by the Chief Wildlife Warden to capture two rogue elephants.

In both cases, Rs 5 lakh compensation has already been disbursed to the families of the deceased, and the remaining Rs 15 lakh each will be provided within a week, he added.

Khandre said the government was making sincere efforts to find a permanent solution to the human–elephant conflict.