Karnataka CM defends move to colour code 'Viveka' school classrooms in saffron

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Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday defended the government's move to paint the thousands of school classrooms to be constructed under 'Viveka' scheme with Saffron colour.

The Karnataka government has proposed the construction of 7,601 classrooms across the state under the new government classrooms scheme named after Swami Vivekananda.

Bommai launched the scheme on Children's Day by laying the foundation stone at Government Higher Primary School at Madiyal in Kalaburgi district.

Asked to comment about the move of colour coding such classrooms with saffron that has sparked a controversy, the Chief Minister said, "Why do people turn red with the very name of saffron? What's wrong to have Saffron colour? There's saffron colour in the (national) tricolour. Swami Vivekananda himself used to wear a saffron robe."

"They (Congress) aren't interested in the comprehensive development of education," Bommai charged.

He said there is a tendency to create controversy on any progressive changes made.

"Vivekananda was a 'Sanyasi'. 'Viveka' means wisdom. We named the schools after Swami Vivekananda so that children draw inspiration from him and a good atmosphere will be created in schools," the Chief Minister opined.

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Asked if "saffronisation of education is happening", he said: "Definitely not".

School Education Minister B C Nagesh said if architects recommend to the government that saffron colour looks good on such classrooms, it will be done.

"We have left the decision to architects. The government does not decide on what kind of paint, window, door and steps. We will take a decision on what they (architects) say," Nagesh said.

"Some people have an allergy towards (saffron) colour", he said.

Taking a dig at the Congress, the Minister said: "I want to ask them, there is saffron colour in their flag. Why did you keep it? Remove it", Nagesh said.

Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said: "Regarding this saffronisation, it should be noted that it is not BJP money but public money. Have people asked for saffronisation or have they got the mandate to do so? Have they got a mandate for tampering with history?"

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said the state government will build 8,000 school rooms in the state of which 2,000 will be the 'Kalyana Karnataka' region (erstwhile Hyderabad-Karnataka region) alone while 6,000 will be in the rest of Karnataka.

"If this can be done for three years continuously, it will bring a major reform in the state. This will address the shortage of classrooms from primary schools in the state," Bommai said.

He said that he has released Rs 250 crore for the construction of toilets in all the schools by August 15, 2023.

The state government has approved recruitment of 15,000 teachers, Bommai said.

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