Raje Govt Makes National Anthem Mandatory in Government Hostels

The national anthem will have to be sung at 7 am every day, along with the daily prayer.

File photo.

(Photo: Reuters)

The OBC, SC and ST students in the 789 hostels of Rajasthan government will have to sing the national anthem daily at 7 am, to “evoke” nationalism in themselves, as the state department of social justice and empowerment stated, according to The Times of India.

On Monday, a statement was released by the government which said that while the national anthem is recited in all residential schools, the tradition is to be followed now in hostels too.

Samit Sharma, the SJE principal secretary, said that the directive was already in place but was just not being enforced due to staff shortages.

Hostel inmates gather for a daily prayer in the morning. The directive on national anthem was not being followed because of staff shortage. The directive has been issued to ensure national anthem is also sung on a daily basis... We have just asked the national anthem to be sung regularly like it is being done in any other school.

The department has nearly 40,000 students in the 789 hostels of the state.