Parents cried foul on Sunday, as several schools monitored whether their students lit diyas at 9 p.m. as urged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pressured by a letter from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) asking for an action taken report.
The Ministry later clarified that no coercion was intended and that participation was voluntary.
“I got a call from the parent representative at our school, asking me to comply with the government’s directions. I was livid, and told her it was more important that the government distribute personal protective equipment to hospital workers than monitoring children lighting diyas,” said one angry parent, with children in Class 5 and 7 at a south Delhi school, who did not wish to be named. “The representative said there was a lot of pressure on the school.”
The school sent a message to parents asking them to report back by 9 p.m. on the child’s participation in the lighting of diyas, and by 10 p.m. on the downloading of the Ministry of AYUSH’s Aarogya Setu app, adding that the Department of Education “requires an update on compliance”.
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