'Jai Hind': Madhya Pradesh school board switches roll call to instill patriotism

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School students in Madhya Pradesh will now have to say ‘Jai Hind’ instead of ‘Yes Sir’ or ‘Yes Madam’ while responding to the roll call in their classes, according to a government order.

The order will come into effect from the coming academic session and will apply to all the government as well as private schools. The objective is to foster patriotism among children, said School Education Minister Vijay Shah.

 
“We recently issued a directive to 1.22 lakh government schools and more than 35,000 private schools to ensure that students say ‘Jai Hind’ during the roll call from the coming academic session,” he told PTI. 

“Students say ‘Yes Sir’ or ‘Yes Madam’ or ‘present’. What good these English acknowledgements achieve?” the minister asked.
 
“‘Jai Hind’ will foster love for the country and patriotism among students,” he said while noting that the armed forces personnel use ‘Jai Hind’ as a greeting.

Shah had earlier asked principals of government schools in Satna district to direct the students to say ‘Jai Hind’ during the roll-call from last October. If the experiment worked, his department would send a proposal to the chief minister to implement it across the state, he had said then.  

The minister today also said that the national flag is being hoisted daily at government middle schools and high schools (Class 6 to 12) since last year.

“After we fill up the vacant 60,000 teachers’ posts at government-run primary schools (Class 1 to 5), we will make sure that the tricolour is hoisted daily in these schools too,” he said.