New Delhi: University Grants Commission (UGC), the apex body for coordination and maintenance of standards of higher education, on Sunday is known to have asked the universities to put up posters thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the free vaccination drive that began for all on Monday.
This comes weeks after the students of CBSE-board Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) were made to record similarly scripted videos thanking the Prime Minister for canceling the final exams amid the second wave. Those videos were lasted posted on social media accounts of the schools with #ThankYouModiJi.
In a letter to all government-funded colleges and universities, UGC also shared approved designs of posters in both Hindi and English. It also directed the administrations of the respective institutions to share the same in social media handles.
The poster in English reads: “Vaccines for all, free for all, world’s largest free vaccination campaign, thank you, PM Modi.” The Hindi poster reads the same too. University of Delhi promptly put up the banners as suggested.
Besides, the UGC also sought an “action taken report” by the end of the day, which has put all universities into a race against time, The Dialogue mentioned in its exclusive report. “The mail was sent to us on Sunday which we saw today when we came to the office. Today, they want an action taken report that is photographs of banners put up outside the campus. How do we get the banners printed within hours?” an IIT official told The Dialogue.
Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi and several administrative heads confirmed that they received similar letters in email and they shall put up the banners soon too.
A government official was quoted as saying by Times Of India that similar requests have been made to other public offices too, including railway stations, banks, hospitals, and research institutions. A railway official confirmed receiving a message, the report said.