India, May 15 -- The West Bengal Government has directed all State-run and aided schools to mandatorily include the singing of Vande Mataram during morning assemblies with immediate effect, according to an official communication issued by the School Education Department.

The directive states that every student must participate in singing the national song at the start of the school day. "From next Monday, Vande Mataram will be introduced as the prayer song in all schools across the State. I will go to Nabanna today and inform them," West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari told reporters at the Assembly.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Pioneer....