Modi’s speech not mandatory: Assam govt

Guwahati: It is not mandatory for schools in Assam to facilitate live telecast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech to children on Teacher’s Day tomorrow, thanks to a directive issued by the Congress government in Assam headed by the chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
The Assam Government has clarified that the telecast of the address of the Prime Minister of India to the children on Teacher’s Day in schools is ‘neither mandatory nor compulsory.’
This directive has been issued to all the Deputy Commissioners, Inspectors of Schools and District Elementary Education Officers of the State by S. C. Das, Additional Chief Secretary of Education Department, Assam.
It is another matter that barring government schools located in distort headquarters and sub-division headquarters, schools in Assam hardly have a TV set to facilitate the telecast.
Some of the schools covered under Rajiv Gandhi Computer Literacy Mission were planning to facilitate live viewing and listening to the PM using some of the computers while some other school were planning to bank on the radio set available with them to listen to the PM speak on Teacher’s Day.
Apparently, Tarun Gogoi led Congress government in Assam has chose to follow, albeit in a different way, what the Trinamool Congress government led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee has done in West Bengal — barring the PM’s teacher’s day speech in government school there.