West Bengal shows no interest in HRD min's new programme

The Central government wants to celebrate cultural integrity in the country through their 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' scheme, but West Bengal, sources in the government said, is not interested in participating.

The idea, which has been proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to celebrate the cultural integrity in the country by making states learn from each other's culture is one of the main programmes on the government agenda these days. For the celebrations, the nodal ministry — Human Resource Development Ministry has been pairing different states to learn from each other's culture; West Bengal, however, refused to be paired, sources said.

Additionally, National Council for Educational and Research and Training (NCERT) has come up with a book with information on all the states, but Bengal has refused to respond to the book as well.

"Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat is a good idea by which people can learn from each other's culture. We have been pairing states, for example Punjab has been paired with Andhra Pradesh, so that they can learn from each other's varied cultures. West Bengal, however, refused to be paired with any state," said a senior official privy to the developments.