Hail the Tricolour

There are so many curbs on the use of National Flag; it's time children were made aware of it.

Pay Respect: Heeding to orders.

Wittingly or unwittingly, many tend to disrespect the National Flag by sporting plastic and paper flags, on Republic Day and Independence Day —the two most important days in the calendar.

Even though the government has imposed a ban on the use of plastic and paper Tricolour most children do continue to use, thanks to lack of awareness.

Make it practical

Not that there are no efforts to create awareness against liberal use of the national flag on such important occasions. But, they are only symbolic and an official formality given the fact that district administrations announce bans on use of plastic/paper flags just hours before these days.

Even the school administrations show little interest in implementing the ban and themselves use them to ornament the school campus.

The government has banned the sale of national flags made of plastic after taking serious note of the disrespect shown to the national flag by way of throwing it on streets, garbage bins and gutters.

Rules to follow

This is a violation of Flag Code of India, 2002. Subsequently, the sale of plastic flags has come down. The special teams formed by drawing personnel from police, civic bodies and Environment and Pollution Control Boards have been hardly seen keeping a vigil on check violation of the ban, particularly on shops or hawkers selling plastic flags.

When asked, a few children admit that their teacher had warned them against the use of plastic flags. The elders too use them liberally and sport them on their vehicles. Perhaps, the awareness to respect the Flag Code needs to be more effective, both among the young and adults, in schools and at homes as well.