March 2, 2017 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau
Jaipur: The BJP lead state government last week reportedly issued a circular in which it has asked all the secondary and senior secondary schools across Rajisthan to buy a collection of essays and speeches by Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder Deendayal Upadhyaya, drawing allegations of “saffronisation” from the opposition Congress.
The Bharatiya Jan Sangh was the erstwhile avatar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which currently holds the reins of power in Rajasthan.
The circular supposedly issued on 27th February was sent out by the state secondary education directorate instructing and further pushing the district education officials to buy copies of the ‘Deendayal Upadhyay Sampoorna Vangmay’ from Delhi based publication Prabhat Prakashan on the occasion of his birth centenary.
The circular supposedly asks the the officials to draw the funds from the school development fund — that is otherwise meant to be utilised for local and sundry needs — for the purchase. However, some schools had utilised the money before the document reached them.
The book, edited by former state BJP president Mahesh Chandra Sharma, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan on October 9 last year. Though the 6,000-page book is priced at ₹6,000, the circular said it will be offered to schools at a discounted price of ₹4,000.
While speaking with the Hindustan Times (HT) Barmer additional district education officer Malaram Choudhary stated that the circular, which he received on Tuesday, mandated the purchase of 15 copies for school libraries. “We will soon issue the required directions to secondary and senior secondary schools,” he further added.
Apparently, the state unit of the Congress party has termed this move of the government as scheme for promoting and implementing its agenda of ‘saffronisation’ through school curricula.
On the one hand they removed the chapters on former Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, and on the other, they promote their ideology and take decisions that will benefit their leaders economically,” said state Congress vice president Archana Sharma. She alleged that the royalty for the books sold will go directly to Mahesh Sharma, a BJP leader with RSS credentials, said the media.
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Related Topics: BJP, Congress Party, Hindutva, Indian Politicians, Indian Politics, Indian State, Rajasthan, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)