sify
 
Bhopal, May 23: Western music and performances based on Bollywood songs will now be a thing of the past in Madhya Pradesh schools.  

The State Government has directed all schools, both state run and private ones, to do away with all types of western music and dance on various occasions including dance competitions and annual day functions.

"The above step has been taken in view of the complaints of obscenity and vulgarity in school functions at various places", said Director Public Instructions, LS Baghel.

"There have been complaints of vulgar dances being performed by girl students in various schools in big cities like Indore and even in small towns like Dewas and Ujjain. Such programmes vitiate the school atmosphere. Programmes based on Indian music and dance would be allowed under the new system", he said.

But the directives of the School Education Department have not gone down well with the schools with many of them saying, "Who will enjoy performing or witnessing programmes based on classical music?"

"We will be left with no option but to stop organizing events like annual day function as it would be nearly impossible for us to train the students in classical items and above all where would we get the audience from", said a government school principal who didn't want himself to be named.

"It is not fair. Overloaded with so much of study material, we hardly get any time for entertainment and the few occasions which we get to relax are being spoiled by the government", said Srishti, a class X student.

"The government had earlier banned fashion shows in all the educational institutions and now even music and dance has been restricted. It is an encroachment on our rights", added Preeti, a college student.

The State BJP secretary Rameshwar Sharma, however, supported the decision stating that the obscenity and nudity should not be allowed in schools and colleges which are the temples of learning. "Indecent performances at these places where children come to study cannot be justified", he asserted.

But the Congress is not amused. "It is another step towards saffronisation of education", said State Congress spokesman Manak Agrawal who claimed that students get to learn a lot from western dance and music at annual functions and warned of an agitation if the decision was not revoked immediately.