Madhya Pradesh students directed to say 'Jai Hind' to roll call instead of 'yes' or 'present'

"Students say `Yes sir' or `Yes madam' or `present'. What good these English acknowledgements achieve?" asked school education minister Vijay Shah.

Image: PTI (Representational)

Bhopal: Students across Madhya Pradesh would be responding to the roll call with `Jai Hind' instead of the usual `Yes sir' or `Yes madam' from the coming academic year, as per a recent government order. The objective is to foster patriotism among children, said School Education Minister Vijay Shah. "We recently issued a directive to 1.22 lakh government schools and more than 35,000 private schools to ensure that students say `Jai Hind' during the roll call from the coming academic session," Shah told PTI. "Students say `Yes sir' or `Yes madam' or `present'. What good these English acknowledgements achieve?" the minister asked. "`Jai Hind' will foster love for the country and patriotism among students," he said, noting that Army and para-military personnel use `Jai Hind' as a greeting. Shah had asked principals of government schools in Satna district to direct the students to say `Jai Hind' during the roll-call from last October. If the experiment worked, his department would send a proposal to the chief minister to implement it across the state, he had said. The minister today also said that the national flag is being hoisted daily at government middle schools and high schools (Class 6 to 12) since last year. "After we fill up the vacant 60,000 teachers' posts at government-run primary schools (Class 1 to 5), we will make sure that the tricolour is hoisted daily in these schools too." he said.