Seal on proposal to make ‘Vande Mataram’ must in all civic schools

PUNE: Students of all the municipal schools in the city will now have to sing 'Vande Mataram' every day.

The all-party committee of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) approved a proposal for the same on Wednesday. "The all-party committee has approved the proposal. The green signal was given unanimously," said mayor Mukta Tilak.

Following the footsteps of Mumbai corporators, a group of elected members in PMC had demanded that the song should be made mandatory in all civic schools of Pune. The proposal tabled in August had stated, "Singing the Vande Mataram song instils the spirit of patriotism. It inspires us. If the civic body makes it mandatory to sing it in schools, it will help the next generation. It will create awareness about sacrifices made during the freedom struggle."

The proposal also demanded that "paintings of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj should be installed in each and every school of PMC." This demand was approved too.

The PMC runs 310 schools. They impart education in various mediums, including Marathi, English, Urdu and Kannada. Around one lakh students study in these schools. Most of them belong to the financially weak section of society.

A proposal of BJP corporator from Goregoan Sandeep Patel making 'Vande Mataram' mandatory in all civic schools in Mumbai was passed in the BMC general body (GB) meeting in August.

The Samajwadi Party leader in the BMC, Rais Shaikh, with all his six party corporators in the civic house demanded a poll over the issue which was not considered. Shaikh with his other party corporators staged a walkout.