Sing national anthem or go to Pak, Jaipur Mayor tells corporation staff

The Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) ordered on Tuesday that the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, be played at its headquarters every morning and the national song, Vande Mataram, every evening to instil a feeling of  patriotism among the employees.

While the order received all sorts of reactions on social media, Jaipur Mayor Ashok Lahoty, who supports the order, said those who oppose his national anthem diktat should go to Pakistan. "Nothing is better than national anthem and national song to start and end the day with positive energy, on a positive note. I feel it should be a practice at all government offices, there should be no hesitation in being nationalist. Those who have an issue can go to Pakistan," Lahoty told DH.

Additional commissioner of JMC, Har Sahay Meena, who has signed the order, says it has the approval of  the  Mayor and the JMC commissioner.

The order, dated October 30, was implemented on Tuesday, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The order says, the national anthem will be played at 9.50 am and the national song at 5.55 pm. Abiding by the order, around 350 people sang the national anthem on Tuesday morning. As mentioned in the letter, the JMC staff gathered 'at the specified place at the specified time'.

While the order claims to instil a sense of service, it has also raised concerns among employees  over adherence to time. The national anthem commenced playing sharply at 9.50 am, after which the bio-metric attendance system  did  not accept entries for the day. Attending the 5.55 pm recital of Vande Mataram will be compulsory for employees before logging out for the day.

Rajasthan Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma, who criticised the move, told DH, "Instead of uplifting the city and keeping it clean, the Mayor is  resorting to  drama to attract media attention. There is a competition in BJP  for leaders to outshine each other with such orders and prove themselves  to be  great nationalists.