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Singing national anthem to be compulsory at all Maharashtra colleges from Feb 20, says state education minister
There are at least 20 lakh students in Maharashtra who study in various institutes of which at least 18 lakh will begin their day by singing national anthem on a daily basis, said Uday Samant
The Maharashtra minister for higher and technical education Uday Samant, on Wednesday, said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government plans to make singing the national anthem compulsory in all colleges and educational institutions from February 20.
Speaking in Pune, Samant said that a circular making the national anthem compulsory in colleges will be issued on February 19, the birth anniversary of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji. Samant further said that when he first announced the decision there was political objection to it, but he took the decision to “instil patriotism and love” for the country among the young students. As per the decision, proceedings in colleges in the state should start with the national anthem.
“There are at least 20 lakh students in Maharashtra who study in various higher education and technical institutes of which at least 18 lakh will begin their day by singing the national anthem on a daily basis,” said Samant.
The latest announcement by Samant comes against the backdrop of yet another decision by the minister for school education Varsha Gaikwad on January 26, making the collective reading of the preamble of the Constitution mandatory in schools.
On January 29, the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations (DGIPR) released a press statement quoting Samant that “all universities and colleges must begin their public functions with the national anthem to imbibe patriotism in students.”
Samant said, “I had visited an institute in Mumbai last month which was built by the British and even some of the teaching faculty were from the UK, but before the function began, they played the national anthem which is when I thought that if they could do this, then why should we not do the same.” He further added that starting February 20, all colleges and higher education institutes will have to mandatorily start their day and any public function with the national anthem.