After directing school principals to express their gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) authorities in the Bengaluru region have reportedly asked them to delete tweets and video clips with the hashtag ‘Thank You Modi Sir’ for cancelling the CBSE board exams.
KV school principals were told to ensure that at least five tweets with videos were posted by students thanking the Prime Minister. However, screenshots of the instructions from the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Regional Office, KVS, started doing the rounds on social media, following which several politicians and Opposition party members criticised the KVS Bengaluru region authorities.
The images also drew flak from citizens and parents.
The principal of a KV school in Karnataka said that they were instructed to tweet the videos on June 3. “We were asked later to delete the tweets from the official school account, and also orally inform students to delete them.”
A teacher of a KV school in Bengaluru said, “Although we received directions to ensure that five students from the school had to post video messages, many teachers became overenthusiastic and asked all the students in their class to post videos. Students who did not have a Twitter account were asked to create one, and post the message.”
Some clips showed students in their school uniforms dutifully thanking the Prime Minister for caring about their physical and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several parents and students complained that they were forced to tweet such messages.
Fifty-one KVs come under the purview of the KVS Bengaluru region. Repeated calls by The Hindu to Sirimala Sambanna, Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Regional Office, KVS went unanswered.