Bhopal/Indore: The Bharatiya Janata Party Government in Madhya Pradesh decided on Sunday that "Vande Mataram" will be sung at all its offices, local bodies and panchayat offices, along with educational institutes, on September 7.

Divisional commissioners and district collectors were informed about the decision to recite the national song at government offices, local bodies and panchayat institutions at 11 a.m. on September 7, to mark the centenary celebrations of its adoption, official sources said.

The Government had earlier issued a circular asking educational institutions to hold functions and ensure the recitation of "at least two stanzas" of the national song on the day, they said. Following the directives, the Madhya Pradesh Madarasa Board has also issued similar circulars to over 5,000 madarasas across the State.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar told reporters in Indore on Sunday that "Vande Mataram is not a prayer, but a song saluting Mother Earth. Even I used to sing it."

"This is just a salaam or namaskar to Mother Earth and everybody does it in his own way. In the song it is `vande' [namaskar or salute] and not `vandana' [prayer]," he said.

In Nagaland the singing of the national song in all the schools and other educational institutions on September 7 would be voluntary in pursuance of the State Government notification.

In Jamshedpur, the Jharkhand unit of the Shiv Sena said it would distribute over 10,000 copies of the song, among citizens of the steel city on the day.

The Jharkhand unit vice-president Shashi Kumar Mishra appreciated the BJP-led Jharkhand Government for making singing of the song mandatory in educational institutions. He said it should be enforced in all government organisations, including district headquarters, police department, cinema halls and non-governmental organisations.

On the controversy over making the recitation compulsory, he said irrespective of caste and creed, all Indians must sing it on the day. Branding as "traitors" those opposed tothe recitation, the Shiv Sena leader demanded action against them.

— UNI, PTI

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