Jaipur: In yet another incident of a state government taking steps to ‘instil’ patriotism among students, the Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan has made it compulsory for all 789 hostels for OBC, SC and ST students under its aegis to ensure that the national anthem is sung by all the inmates at a daily gathering.

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The gathering should take place at 7 am daily, the directive, issued by state department of social justice and empowerment (SJE), stated.

An official statement released on Monday stated that while the singing of national anthem was already compulsory in schools, the same will be mandatory in hostels as well. Interestingly, the directive was already effective from Sunday.

As per a Times of India report, SJE principal secretary Samit Sharma claimed that singing of national anthem at the hostels was already a part of daily routine of the students.

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However, he said, the directive had to be reissued as an earlier directive on the matter had not been followed on a regular basis due to shortage of staff at the hostels.

"Hostel inmates gather for a daily prayer in the morning. The directive on national anthem was not being followed because of staff shortage. The directive has been issued to ensure national anthem is also sung on a daily basis," he told the daily.

The daily reported that the department has nearly 800 hostels across the state with 40,000 students.

Incidentally, just days before, Jaipur mayor Ashok Lahoti had made the singing of national anthem and song mandatory at 9am and 5pm.

Earlier this month, the Rajasthan Youth Board had also organised a ‘Vande Mataram’event at SMS stadium on November 8, which was attended by chief minster Vasundhara Raje.