Observe Armed Forces Flag Day: UGC tells univs

After directing to have a dedicated'wall of heroes'in educational institutes as a tribute to Indian Army personnel, who showed extraordinary courage, University Grants Commission has sent out another directive to the varsities across the country to generate awareness among students about the sacrifices made by Indian Armed Forces.

The move comes following a letter received from the Ministry of Defence's Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare to the UGC on September 25, to celebrate the Armed Forces Flag Day on December 7 in the educational institutes.

In his letter to the universities, PK Thakur, Secretary, UGC, wrote that Armed Forces Flag Day is observed every year on December 7 to commemorate the sacrifices made by our valiant Armed Forces personnel for protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country.

"The universities are requested to arrange functions/talks for students in their colleges or institutes to generate awareness among the youth about the sacrifices made by our Armed Forces and the significance of the day in our lives," he said.

However, the directive has created confusion among the principals of Delhi University (DU) colleges as they have their semester examinations scheduled around that time. "We have not received any official direction as of now.

But December 7 will not be suitable at DU, at least. We will have semester examination of all years on that day," said Manoj Sinha, Principal Aryabhatt College. 

Several other principals also claimed that this is the first time they have received any such advisory from the UGC."Earlier, some retired army personnel used to come to the colleges on the occasion to raise funds for the welfare and rehabilitation of war-widows and their children. 

This is the first time we have been asked to arrange such programmes," said another principal, who did not want to be named. Officials at Jamia Millia Islamia University were unaware of the letter and said this is the first time that the UGC has directed to organise such event for the day. However, JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar said,"We have not received any communication as of now. We will definitely organise some programme as per the directive."

The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA), however, called it another way of "imposing" patriotism at educational institutes by the incumbent government. "Earlier, people used to respect the Army on an individual level. But now everything is being imposed," said DUTA president, Rajib Ray.