It’s official: For patriotism, Madhya Pradesh school students will now answer roll call with ‘Jai Hind’

The present practice of saying “yes sir, yes madam” does not foster patriotism, School Education Minister Vijay Shah had said. (Representational Image)

The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday issued a circular making it compulsory for school children to answer roll call with ‘Jai Hind’. The move comes more than five months after the government made this decision, in a bid to instil patriotism in children. The government has already instructed schools to hoist the Tricolour and sing the national anthem daily in schools.

“Different words are used to mark the attendance. To instil patriotism among students it has been decided by the government that ‘Jai Hind’ should be used while marking attendance in school,” the circular issued on Tuesday read.

School Education Minister Vijay Shah had first made an announcement to this effect while addressing NCC cadets from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on the occasion of NCC Day at Shaurya Smarak in Bhopal.

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The present practice of saying “yes sir, yes madam” does not foster patriotism, the minister had said on the occasion while announcing that the patriotic slogan will be made compulsory in all 1.22 lakh government schools and advisory will be issued to private schools. In September, he had announced that the slogan will be used on an experimental basis in government schools in Satna from October 1.