PM Modi's birthday: Sunday working day for many UP students

AGRA: Thousands of children were present at several primary schools in UP on Sunday, September 17, which hap pened to be the birthday of PM Narendra Modi. Officially, schools had been opened for a Pulse Polio Drive.
An order issued by the Basic Shiksha Adhikari, Luck now, Praveen Kumar Tripathi said that schools in Lucknow, in both rural and urban areas, would remain open from 8am till 4pm for a Pulse Polio Drive.The order also directed the teachers to be present at the school.
The BSA could not be contacted. Director Basic Shiksa Sarvendra Vikram Singh said that no orders had been issued from the directorate level to open schools on Sunday. From Mathura to Mainpu ri, Meerut to Muzaffarna gar and beyond, students from primary to class VIII, in uniform, could be seen singing songs, getting sweets and snacks, and made to take a pledge to work for `Swachh Bharat'.
Many teachers said educational institutions had been asked to remain open and teachers had been directed to be present “without fail“.
In some schools, teachers confirmed that they had been asked to attend so that they could conduct a Pulse Polio campaign. Interestingly , the campaign targets children younger than five. But as photos available with TOI show, many of the children present were much older than five.
On September 7, TOI had reported that schools had been directed to stay open on September 17, even though it was a Sunday , with attendance being compulsory for students and teachers.
The UP government had issued a statement on September 8 denying the TOI report, saying, “There is no proposal with the state government to keep primary schools open on Sunday , September 17.“
However, as the pictures accompanying this report show, many schools in UP did remain open on Sunday , with students turning up in large numbers. Satendra Kumar, basic shiksha adhikari of Meerut district, told TOI: “All 1,300 pri mary and junior schools were open in Meerut on Sunday . Also, since it was the PM's birthday , teachers told students about his life and made them take the `swachhata' pledge.There were no instructions to celebrate the birthday .“ He added that the students had also come for a “Pulse Polio awareness campaign“.
A senior teacher at an Agra school said that samosas and sweets were distributed at schools. Kuldep Saraswat, headmaster of a junior school in Lohvan block in Mathura, said, “There was no official order about the birthday , but we organised a seminar on cleanliness drive and educated students of classes VI to VIII about it. We also told them about PM Modi and his achievements.“
In Mainpuri, Avnendra Kumar, headmaster of a primary school in Karhal said, “ As it was the PM's birthday , we distributed sweets to the children, told them about his life and made them take the cleanliness pledge. Officially , it was a Pulse Polio campaign.“
In the PM's constituency of Varanasi, birthday celebrations were organized at almost all primary schools on Saturday , although government officials had expressed ignorance about it. BJP Varanasi functionaries had said they had “adopted“ all primary schools earlier in September, and did not need the government's permission for the celebrations.
(With inputs from Ishita Bhatia in Meerut)