New Delhi: A probationary youth development officer from Valsad district was suspended by the Gujarat government on Wednesday for organising an elocution competition for school students with one of the topics being "My Role Model - Nathuram Godse", PTI reported.
The other two topics in the competition were: "I like the flying bird in the sky" and "I will become a scientist but will not go to the USA".
This issue came to light on Wednesday when newspapers published reports claiming that the student who spoke on Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, was given the first prize by the school.
Mitaben Gavli, a probationary class-2 District Youth Development Officer for the Valsad district, was suspended after Minister of State for Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Harsh Saghavi assured action.
"I have ordered an inquiry into this incident. We will take action against the guilty," Sanghavi had told reporters in Gandhinagar.
The order stated that the official should have been extra careful in choosing the subjects for the elocution competition, which was coordinated by the office's Valsad office on February 14 at a private school. It was open for students of primary schools in the age group of 11 to 13 years from the entire Valsad district.
"In the district-level competition held on February 14, school children were given three subjects to choose from. One of the subjects provided by Gavli was 'My Role Model - Nathuram Godse'. The other two subjects were - 'I like only those birds who fly in the sky' and 'I will become a scientist but will not go to the US", the suspension order stated.
When the department sought information from the Valsad district Primary Education Officer, BD Bariaya, he said that Gavli had selected these subjects and had written letters to primary schools to inform them about the upcoming elocution competition.
"On February 16, newspapers carried reports about the selection of such controversial subject for the competition. It appears that you have not taken due care in selecting subjects despite being a responsible government officer. Thus, in the interest of public and administrative interest, you are put under suspension with immediate effect," the letter said.
Following the controversy, the private school management explained that they had only hosted the event and not organised it.
"We had only provided our school premises to the department for organising this competition. Not just the subject, even judges for the competition were selected by the Valsad district office," said Archana Desai, administrator of Kusum Vidhyalaya.
(With PTI inputs)