Express News Service
RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh’s Congress Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has announced mandatory recitation of the devotional ‘Raghupati raghav rajaram’ and ‘Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye…’ – the favourite bhajans of Gandhi ji – across state schools.
“The decision is meant to offer tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It will strengthen the feeling of national unity among the people,” said the CM. The government has made several decisions in the last few days to foster Gandhian ideology and thoughts in the state.
One of them is an ambitious project to create the Seva Gram of the 21st century on the lines of Wardha in the new capital city of Nava Raipur. The move will promote rural art, craft and folk music, besides being a platform for brainstorming.
The state has earmarked around 80 acres for the project, which is inspired by the Seva Gram Ashram located in Wardha, set up in 1936 as the residence of Gandhi ji and his wife . The state had also decided to impart education on the teachings of Gandhi to be introduced in the curriculum of Classes V to XII.
Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, said such a move becomes more relevant to make an India that the founding father had dreamt of. “Because of the adverse conditions that we see in the concept of New India today, the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals and practices becomes even greater now. These initiatives and programmes shouldn’t be mere tokenism but sincerely implemented to make them more meaningful,” he added.
