Jaipur municipal staff fluff lines of national anthem; officials blush

A day after Jaipur Municipal Corporation authorities made singing of the national anthem and national song compulsory for its employees, less than half of them turned up for the recital.

Much to the embarrassment of the Corporation management, those who assembled for the recital on Wednesday trailed off halfway through, as they failed to recall the lines.

In its order on Tuesday, the JMC said the national anthem should be played every morning and the national song each evening at its headquarters to instil the feeling of nationalism among the employees.

When the national anthem began playing on the loudspeakers at 9.50 am on Wednesday, employees present could not recite beyond the second stanza.

While less than 270 out of 500 employees had assembled at the courtyard and stairways, many were seen rushing towards the biometric system, anxious to clock in before 10 am when the system would stop accepting attendance according to the new rules.

Senior officials of the Corporation were also present at the courtyard.

"We welcome the new rules," Ravi Sharma, a senior employee who hurried to clock in on the biometric machine, told Deccan Herald. "But we should be allowed to go home at 6 pm. We end up staying in office until 7 pm as there is a huge workload."

Sharma, however, refused to recite the national anthem when this correspondent asked him to do so.

The situation was no better in the evening when national song Vande Mataram was played on the loudspeakers at 5.55 pm. Few bothered to assemble for the recital, while most loitered in the corridors chatting and waiting for the clock to run out. A large number of them could not even distinguish the national anthem from the national song.

"This is a good initiative, but they should distribute the lyrics on a piece of paper," said Renu Kumari, who kept peering at her watch to see if the working hours were over.

Jaipur Mayor Ashok Lahoty said other cities should also adopt the initiative. "I am sure the attendance would improve in the coming days and employees would get a patriotic feeling," he said, adding that cities in Assam and Telangana are starting the practice in their offices.