Inaugurating a training centre of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), named after late Lakshmanrao Inamdar, a Sangh leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mentor, Bhagwat spoke at length about the importance of mutual cooperation among the people in the country.
"The society that sits idle and looks at the government for everything is not required. A country, which has a lot of self-respect, can be developed when its society does not depend on the government and becomes capable through mutual cooperation among the people," he said, while emphasising on the importance of cooperatives.
Cooperation and cooperativeness were qualities that were inculcated in the RSS workers, he added.
"Bina sehkar nahi udhar, bina sanskar nahi sehkar (Without cooperation, there can be no progress and without moral values, there can be no cooperation)," he said.
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Talking about Inamdar, popularly known as Vakil Saheb, Bhagwat said he himself had worked with him.
"For many years, he (Inamdar) was in charge of the Sangh's activities in Gujarat and had inducted our Prime Minister Narendra Modi into the organisation and was his mentor also," he said.
Inamdar was a founding father of the RSS-affiliated Sehkar Bharti, which works for the development of cooperatives in the country.
The event was also organised by the Sehkar Bharti. The centre has now been upgraded as a national-level institute and renamed as Laxmanrao Inamdar Academy for Cooperative Studies and Human Resource Management.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohal Lal Khattar also recalled Inamdar's contribution, saying he was the one who had brought Modi into the RSS and monitored his development.
The event was also attended by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh.