The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar is gearing to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as National Unity Day on Tuesday.
Last year, the government, which was then in an alliance with the Rhastriya Janata Dal and the Congress, rebuffed the Union government’s directive, and said it would celebrate the occasion in its own way.
The political equations having changed this year after the Janata Dal(U) struck an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the government has issued a circular directing all government schools and institutions to organise essay-writing, debate and slogan-writing competitions on the theme “Sardar Patel and national integration”.
“Educational institutions have also been asked to administer a pledge to the students to preserve the unity and integrity of the nation,” said Rajmohan Singh, a government school teacher.
Other schoolteachers also confirmed to The Hindu that it was the “first time they had received a circular from the Education Department directing us to organise the event in a grand manner.”
