New Delhi: The Union government has asked higher educational institutions (HEIs) to screen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Wednesday (March 13) as he lays down the foundation stones for semiconductor facilities in Gujarat and Assam.
The move has been perceived as a bid to reach out to first-time voters ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls before the model code of conduct comes into effect, according to the Telegraph.
The semiconductor facilities are being set up in Gujarat’s Dholera and Sanand as well as Morigaon in Assam.
Calling it a “propaganda programme” some educators have accused the government of interfering with the autonomy of HEIs, the report said.
Posters and compliance reports
The education ministry has asked institutions to put out ‘Viksit Bharat’ posters with pictures of Modi at the programme venues. The ministry also wants the institutions under its control to send compliance reports after the event, the Telegraph reported.
The ministry as well as the University Grants Commission (UGC) have issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) and a background note for the conduct of the event to all universities, including state-level universities and private universities
Along with its letter to vice-chancellors of these institutions, the UGC has attached the designs of five posters that they are required to put out at the venues. The posters mention “India’s Techade: Chips for Viksit Bharat” and carry pictures of Modi laying the foundation stone for the semiconductor facilities.
“The posters related to the event are attached. It is requested to disseminate the information about the programme among the students and encourage them to participate in the event leading to the vision of Viksit Bharat,” the letter by UGC secretary Manish Joshi said.
The background note shared with institutions said, “Students and youths are key stakeholders of this endeavour, therefore, all the Universities/HEIs shall make necessary arrangement and ensure that all students, especially of STEM and technical disciplines participate in above programme.”
“This is a top-down approach from the government on institutions. It is purely a propaganda programme ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Researchers and faculty members are supposed to focus on academic activities. But the government wants them to do propaganda,” Abha Dev Habib, a faculty member at Miranda House College said,
Calling the directives “politically motivated” and wrong, Ashok Agrawal, a member of the executive council of Delhi University said, “It is a brazen wrong action by the government to force institutions to divert their energy on a politically motivated event. The institutions are autonomous. They have the power to ignore such directions. But the institutions are unlikely to ignore as the government would victimise them,” he said.
Not the first time
Earlier this year, UGC had asked universities and colleges in the country to install the Modi government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) logo on their premises ‘to create awareness on valuing the girl child.’
In December last year, the regulatory body had written to universities across the country to set up selfie points with Modi in the background. It had suggested that campus authorities should encourage students and visitors to take selfies at these points to instil a sense of “collective pride” over “India’s achievements in various fields”.
UGC’s directive stipulated that each selfie point should be established at a strategic place on the campus and have a 3D layout. It also recommended various themes like internationalisation of education, unity in diversity, Smart India Hackathon, Indian knowledge system, multilingualism, and India’s rise in higher education, research and innovation for the photo-ops.
Days before this letter, UGC had also written to HEIs all over Maharashtra in November, 2023 to encourage students to participate in celebrations commemorating the birth centenary year of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Dattaji Didolkar.