The Indian Express             22.08.2013

Sardar Patel plays key role in AMC’s ‘rashtra bhavna’

After Patel's recent presence on the cover page of textbooks published by the Gujarat State School Textbook Board (GSSTB) that carried his picture and highlighted his achievements and also a justification for building the much-hyped highest "statue of unity", the municipal school board made it a point to pay tributes to Sardar Patel as nation's "Lohpurush".

Various activities that revolved around Sardar Patel included separate reading and writing weeks, debate competition and "rashtra bhavna jagran" rally. The ongoing "writing week" that will continue till August 24 includes similar content on Sardar Patel taken from the textbook cover page that will be dictated to students by teachers and municipal school board teams that will visit different schools throughout this week.

However, the only two other personalities listed by the AMC school board in writing exercise are Swami Vivekanand and Mahatma Gandhi. In another activity, among three subjects for the debate competition for students of Class VI-VIII that was organised on August 13, "Bharat ki ekta ka prateek - Sardar Patel" was the one that evoked maximum entries. The other two topics included "malnutrition - save mother and child" and "what I like the most".

"Though it is carried out by the school board for the first time, the aim of this month-long drive is to make students realise the importance of independence and evoke national feelings among them. There could not be denying the fact that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel has a very important role in building the nation and it would not be wrong to pay tributes to him during rashtra bhavna month. It is mere a coincidence that the year coincides with the foundation stone laying ceremony of the statue of unity," said AMC school board chairperson Jagdish Bhavsar.