West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has said the state will aim to establish at least 1,000 schools run by Vidya Bharati, the education wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), within a year.
Speaking at an event in Kolkata on Thursday, September 3, to mark the 74th anniversary of Vidya Bharati, Adhikari urged the organisation to expand its presence across the state and promote what he described as “nationalistic learning”.
He said the schools should be established in every district, municipality and panchayat.
More Schools in Muslim-Majority Districts
Adhikari specifically called for more Vidya Bharati institutions in Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas.
He claimed that “more anti-national activities” take place in these districts and asked the organisation to increase its educational activities there.
Adhikari also accused the previous Trinamool Congress government of having “polluted” educational institutions and urged Vidya Bharati to play a greater role in shaping the education system.
Vidya Bharati is affiliated with the RSS and runs schools across India that combine regular education with cultural and value-based programmes.
Adhikari Opposes Separate Madrasa Education
The Chief Minister also called for a single education system in the state and said there should not be a separate system for madrasa education.
“And our thinking is that there should not be separate forms of education: Madrasa education and other forms of education. All of it should be one education system,” Adhikari said.
He invoked the slogan of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee — “one nation, one Constitution, one flag, one leader” — and said the same principle should apply to education.
Adhikari also opposed the existing arrangement under which the minority affairs department oversees Aliah University while other universities come under the higher education department.
“We won’t allow an arrangement where the higher education department will look after all universities, while another department will look after Aliah University,” he said.
CM Questions Separate List of Muslim Students
Adhikari also questioned why the minority affairs department had separately sent him the names of Muslim students after he felicitated board examination toppers.
“I felicitated the board toppers. Later, the minority affairs department sent me a separate file with the names of 27 Muslim students,” he said.
He questioned the need for a separate list, saying that students from different religious communities had already been included among those felicitated.
Schools Warned Over Vande Mataram
At the event, Adhikari also spoke about the singing of the full version of Vande Mataram in schools.
He said schools had been warned that government assistance could be stopped if they refused to sing the complete version.
“I told them that government aid would stop,” Adhikari said. “Then they budged, but only partially. They stood up, but did not move their lips. Then I told them that lips must move as well.”
His remarks come amid a wider political debate over the singing of Vande Mataram and the role of national symbols in educational institutions.
The proposed expansion of Vidya Bharati schools marks a significant push by the state government to increase the organisation’s educational presence in West Bengal. The plan has also raised concerns among critics who argue that greater involvement of an RSS-affiliated organisation in education could promote a particular ideological approach in schools.
