Central Universities to hoist 207 ft high national flag
In a bid to inculcate national pride among students, central universities will now be required to hoist the national flag in their campuses. The decision was taken at a meeting of all 46 Vice-Chancellors of central universities with the Union HRD Minister, Smriti Irani. The decision comes in the backdrop of the anti-national slogans raised in 2 central varsities - JNU and Jadavpur University.
The meeting of the Vice-Chancellors of the central universities was called in the aftermath of the unfortunate suicide of Rohith Vemula, a student of the University of Hyderabad. The incident had triggered a nationwide protest and brought forth the question of social discrimination on university campuses. The meeting which was planned much earlier included in its ambit the issues of anti-national sloganeering at JNU.
The hoisting of the national flag is governed by the Flag Code of India which was formulated in 1968 and updated in 2008. The national standards body, Bureau of Indian Standards, governs the manufacture and correct usage of the flag. The tricolor can only be made of Khadi or hand-spun cloth and the length to width ratio of the flag is specified as 3:2.
In 2004, the Supreme Court, while deciding a petition filed by Naveen Jindal, had allowed all citizens to hoist the national flag on all days of the year which was earlier restricted to Independence Day and Republic Day only.
The Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smriti Irani admonished university vice chancellors by asking them to come out of their "comfortable cocoons" and not waste the tax-payers money. Several VC's dozed off during her speech, inviting sharp criticism. Asking the VCs to introspect, she added, "Don't become the VC just to get a lal batti (red beacon) fitted on top of your car."
Omar Abdullah tweeted that hoisting the national flag will not solve problems of alienation. The JNU Vice-Chancellor said it was "matter of pride for JNU to install the national flag on our campus." "I have had a dream, a dream to see the Tiranga flying in all parts of the country. This is a dream come true for me." -Naveen Jindal, Rajya Sabha MP.
