Other States - Orissa   

Patnaik bans "custom" of students welcoming dignitaries

Staff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, has ordered a ban on engaging school children to welcome visiting politicians and other dignitaries.

Mr. Patnaik asked the School and Mass Education Department to stop the practice after he noticed hundreds of school children lined up to welcome guests at functions marking the 61st birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

Following the directive, the Department has issued instructions to officials concerned and school authorities.

This had come to the fore during the by-election to the Sundargarh Assembly constituency earlier this year.

Two schoolteachers had been suspended for making the students stand under a scorching sun to welcome Mr. Patnaik while he was campaigning in Sundargarh. The Opposition parties had taken up the matter with the election authorities pointing to the "harassment" of the school children. Last year, the Chief Minister had banned corporal punishment in schools across the State.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Patnaik bans "custom" of students welcoming dignitaries

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu