College Students Told To Attend PM Modi's Rally in Madhya Pradesh

Indore: At least 100 students from colleges in Indore must attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally on Thursday in Mhow, 30 km away, the government has said.

A notice sent to state-run and private engineering colleges and business schools says the students must be in uniform and carry their college IDs so that if needed, they can volunteer to manage the crowd and help distribute food and water.

On the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti, "your institution has send 100 students along with a teacher on a bus at your own expense as a compulsory measure," the notice, issued in Hindi, read.

Madhya Pradesh is governed by the BJP. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is serving his third consecutive term. The opposition has censured his government for the instructions to colleges.  

Students in Indore are currently busy with annual exams.

The colleges have been asked to organise transport for the students.

The PM's rally is part of the government's efforts to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar.

Mohini Shrivastava, the official who signed the order that was sent to colleges, told The Indian Express that the engineering and management colleges "themselves volunteered" to send students.

"This can be only a suggestion but not necessarily an order... There can be  a mistake but this is nothing to make an issue of," said state BJP chief Nand Kumar Chouhan.


Here is the notice: