Patna: Political temperature has risen in Bihar after the state government decided to paint model schools in a saffron pallete.
Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary inaugurated 551 model schools on Sunday. Reports indicate that officials have been directed to paint all model schools saffron instead of conventional colours such as pink, sky blue or yellow. Bihar government has renamed 551 Model Schools (covering classes 9 to 12) as Saraswati Vidya Niketan.
Responding to the BJP-led NDA government`s decision, JD (U) national working president and MP Sanjay Kumar Jha said, "Education has no colour. Nitish Kumar had initiated such Model Schools. Education is for everyone. I don't think it should be given any colour."
Senior JD (U) leader and Bihar food and consumer protection minister Ashok Choudhary said the opposition should focus on whether the quality of education had improved during the NDA’s two decades in power instead of raising objections over the colour of school buildings.
State AIMIM president Akhtarul Iman alleged the government was trying to promote a particular religion using taxpayers’ money. He claimed that the government was not only saffronising schools but the entire nation.
“It is demolishing mosques and igniting animosity among people in the name of mosques and temples. It has led to the disrobing of democracy,” he alleged.
JD (U) MLC Khalid Anwar said that the government believed in “politics of development” and not in “politics of colour.”
“More than 500 model schools were opened in Bihar, which aligns with Nitish Kumar’s agenda. More schools will be opened in the future. This is a good move, but if anyone is fixated on the colour controversy, then this is not a good thing,” he said.
Defending the decision, Bihar education minister Mithilesh Tiwari contended that those questioning the government should understand the issue seriously, asserting that saffron was a symbol of prosperity.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken the resolve to make India a developed nation, and our chief minister Samrat Choudhary is continuously working to make Bihar a prosperous state. Saffron is a symbol of that prosperity," he added.
