Senior Congress MLA Punja Vansh said on Wednesday that the state government’s decision to announce a Navratri vacation in schools and colleges without enough discussions was thoughtless, and demanded that it be reconsidered. The state government announced a seven-day Navratri vacation in schools, colleges, and universities, while curtailing the Diwali vacation from 21 days to 14 days. Punja Vansh, who represents Una constituency in the Assembly, said that many educational institutes, academicians, students, and parents are opposing the Navratri vacation, and demanding that the decision be rolled back. “I firmly believe that before taking this decision, you should have held deliberations with educationists, teachers, student bodies, and society leaders. You have taken a thoughtless decision by not doing so. Because of the mindset to gain quick popularity, you were not able to properly decide if this decision is in the interest of education or not,” Vansh wrote in a letter to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. The Congress leader alleged that announcing a vacation after releasing the academic calendar amounted to administrative deficiency. “In view of interest of students and education, you take a proper decision and make an announcement,” Vansh demanded. Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, however, ruled out a rethink saying it was taken after due consultations. He also criticised Vansh for not making the demand earlier. “We had announced the vacation 25 days ago. If Vansh felt the decision was not proper, he should have spoken earlier. We had even met during the Assembly session,” Chudasama said.

Stay updated with all the Ahmedabad Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.