Patna, Feb. 19: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which underwent a change of guard in Bihar after the BJP's defeat in the 2015 Assembly polls, has stepped up "socio-religious" work in select pockets of the state to strengthen Hindutva - the core strength of the Sangh parivar.

Ramdatt Chakradhar - the RSS's veteran pracharak (bachelor proselytiser) and a zoology gold medallist from Gwalior University - has replaced Swant Ranjan, another Sangh veteran, as the chhetra karyavah (regional head) of Bihar-Jharkhand.

Ranjan, also a pracharak and an academician from Banaras Hindu University, has been promoted as the head of the RSS's all-India intellectual cell that "searches" for academic professionals to man key positions such as chancellors, vice-chancellors and directors of academic institutions across the country.

Ramdatt has engaged the RSS wing Banwasi Kalyan Kendra, which was more active in forest states such as Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, in select hinterlands of Bihar in a big way. RSS documents show that the Banwasi Kalyan Kendra has opened 10 hostels for boys, 63 medical centres, seven middle schools known as Sishu Vidya Mandirs and 223 self-help groups in the state in the last six months.

The areas in which the Banwasi Kalyan Kendra has started operating include East and West Champaran in north Bihar, Purnea in Seemanchal, Gaya, Supaul and Madhepura.

"The selection of the districts is based on certain considerations," said Sanjeev Kumar, the Bihar head of the Vishwa Samvad Kendra, an RSS wing. "Bodhgaya in Gaya district witnessed a terror strike in 2013. Terrorists are supposed to have built sleeper cells in Gaya region bordering Jharkhand. The RSS is supposed to sanitise the society. Also, many are yet to be rehabilitated in the flood-ravaged Supaul and Madhepura regions."

Most of the districts that the Banwasi Kalyan Kendra has adopted also have a sizeable minority population. "The RSS's primary work is to inculcate sanskar (read Hindutva) in the Hindu society. The ultimate liberation lies in the people adopting the sanatan (read Hindu) way of life. The RSS doesn't have a political agenda," said Ajay Kumar, a state-level RSS volunteer.

Ramdatt, who played a "pivotal" role in strengthening the roots of the BJP in particular and the Sangh in general in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, believes the division on caste lines in Bihar was "sharper" and leading the "casteist" parties such as the JDU and the RJD to defeat the Hindutva forces.

Ramdatt, who is headquartered at the RSS's office, Vijay Niketan at Rajendra Nagar here, spends most of his time in the remote hinterlands.

"He concentrates more on the youths undergoing drills in the RSS shakhas in the hinterlands," said a source close to him, adding: "Ramdatt has inspired a large number of youths from management and engineering streams to give up their service for Banwasi Kalyan Kendras and Seva Bharti centres."