The government of Gujarat will be including the recitation and studying of the Hindu religious scripture Bhagavad Gita into the syllabus of the school education in Gujarat from standard 6 to the 12. A resolution supporting this decision was proposed by the ruling BJP government on Wednesday in the state assembly which is into a month long budget session for the next fiscal.
However, the bringing in of the resolution was opposed by the opposition party, Congress, terming it as unnecessary and to garner political brownies, as the state government had already decided to act upon it and the government was utilising the procedure of the state assembly to politicise it.
The Gujarat govt's resolution
The BJP ruled government in Gujarat, on Wednesday brought in a resolution including the studies of Bhagavad Gita in the syllabus in schools. It was proposed by the minister of state (MoS) for education and the legislator from kamrej, Praful Pansheriya and it was proposed in the house under the notice of 120.
Amit Chavda, the leader of the Congress party in the house, said, "The Gujarat government has already decided to include the Bhagavad Gita in the school syllabus, then where is the need to bring this government resolution? The government is committed to implement all its schemes and there shouldn't be any need to bring any resolution to support or endorse it."
"No need to bring this resolution"
Supporting this statement, the Congress whip, Shailesh Parmar said, "I support Amit Chavda's statement that there is no need to bring this resolution and I think that it is just for publicity through this resolution. Besides that, when the resolution has been introduced in the house through the notice of 120, all the legislators should have been informed about it in writing, 7 days prior to the bringing it in the house."
Arjun Modhwadia, the senior Congress leader from Porbandar rose to support the Congress's sentiment but just as he was about to begin, the speaker of the house, Shankar Chaudhary said 'Arjun cannot be against Geeta' bringing laughter across the entire house.
"Definitely and there is no question of opposing Bhagavad Gita, but the point is that there is no necessity to propose this resolution and expecting the government to support its own resolution. If it had been a resolution brought to create awareness regarding the reading of Gita or to request the students and parents to support the education of Gita, then it would have been an appropriate move," Modhwadia told the house.
However, the speaker put an end to the entire issue supporting the government spokesperson and legislative affairs minister Hrishikesh Patel's statement that the resolution was to have the cooperation of the entire house in support of the inclusion of bhagwad Geeta in education.
According to the government decision, bhagwad Gita will be taught in the government schools from standard 6th to the 12th. "Introduction to Bhagavad Geeta will be included in the 'Sarwangi Shikshan' (holistic education) subject from the standard 6 to 8. While, introduction to Bhagavad Geeta will be included in the subject of first language syllabus from classes 9th to the 12th," Pansheriya told the house.
