West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee on Thursday asked all schools and colleges across the state to ignore Univeristy Grants Commission(UGC) notification to air Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in educational institutions.
"Preparations for ongoing state board examinations and more important than listening to a speech," Chatterjee was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
In a circular issued to all the educational institutions, the UGC had said that steps should be taken to provide facilities, such as having projection on large screens, for students to view the programme.
Chatterjee, however, asked all schools and colleges to not fall in line with the Centre's demand. "No one is willing to listen to speeches. Instead, students are busy preparing for their examinations. Making preparations for live telecast of the speech will not be the right thing to do now," he said.
This is not the first time that the Trinamool Congreess (TMC) ruled state has locked horns with the government at the Centre and chosen to defy the directives. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier pulled up the authorities of Shri Shikshayatan, a private girl’s school in Kolkata, for playing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Maan Ki Baat’ for students.
PM Modi-- who recently authored a book-Exam Warriors that talks about "ways to handle examination stress"-- held a personal interaction with 3000 students in capital's Talkatora stadium on Friday.
Union HRD Minister Javadekar recently held a meeting with all state representatives, which was not attended by West Bengal, asking them to ensure that students watch the programme. The event was aired live by the national broadcaster.
On Thursday, CBSE issued a circular to all affiliated schools to make “necessary arrangements” for students to watch the programme. The schools are also required to submit a report along with photographs or video evidence of students watching the broadcast.
Mamata Banerjee led state was also the first to opt out from Modi government's amibitious national healthcare scheme 'Modicare', saying the Bengal government had already enrolled 50 lakh people under its own Swasthya Sathi programme.
"The state will not 'waste' its hard-earned resources to contribute its share to the programme," said the CM.
