In a sweeping directive issued by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, the state government has made it compulsory for all government and government-aided schools in West Bengal to begin every assembly by singing the state anthem, Banglar Mati, Banglar Jal.
The notification instructs heads of upper primary and secondary institutions to “take necessary action for regularly singing the state song at the morning assembly mandatorily”.
The song, penned in 1905 by Rabindranath Tagore during the anti-partition movement in Bengal, has been elevated to official state anthem status following a citizens’ convention and a subsequent resolution in 2023.
According to the order, the song will now be sung as a “prarthana sangeet” (prayer song) at the start of each day, in addition to the national anthem, in schools funded or aided by the state.
State Education Minister Bratya Basu posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the dual-anthem practice would act as “a catalyst for social and communal unity” through regular singing of both the national and the state anthem.
The directive arrives in a politically charged backdrop of tension between the ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), particularly over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists and schooling matters in the state.
