Rajasthan Govt Directs Hostel Inmates To Sing National Anthem Every Morning

The Rajasthan government has issued a directive to the 789 hostels for OBC, SC and ST students under its aegis to sing the national anthem every day at 7 am. The statement was released by the State’s Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (SJE). They say this step was taken to instil the ideas of nationalism among the inmates.

The Logical Indian spoke to the Social Justice and Empowerment Department and they confirmed that the directive has been passed. They said that the diktat is not mandatory and was just a proposal, but it is a directive which has been forwarded to all hostels and has been in effect from Sunday, November 26.

Residential schools already follow the rule of singing the national anthem every morning. The directive for hostels came after Jaipur mayor Ashok Lahoti made it compulsory to sing the national anthem at 9 am and 5 pm.

Earlier in 2016, the Vasundhara Raje government tried to make ‘Surya Namaskar’ mandatory, but it was challenged in the High Court and was then made optional. On 8 November 2017, Rajasthan Youth Board held a ‘Vande Mataram’ event at SMS stadium.

Welfare Hostels

The welfare hostels are for SC, ST and OBC students belonging to below poverty line families. The housing, food and electricity are free of cost. Students from Class XII to graduation can reside in such hostels.

The Logical Indian take

Patriotism is a good virtue but there are other ways of instilling love for one’s country than forcing students to stand for national anthem every day in the morning. Jingoism is on the rise with open threats given to people who do not follow the saffron-tainted ideas of nationalism. In such situations, the government should bring out policies that protect people rather than put them in harm’s way.