No plan to teach Gita in BMC schools, says Maharastra Education Minister Vinod Tawde

The Maharashtra government on Friday made it clear that there was no plan to teach Bhagwad Gita to municipal school students in Mumbai schools.

"There is absolutely no such proposal," Education Minister Vinod Tawde said, when asked abut media reports quoting an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that all municipal schools in the city and suburbs would teach Bhagwad Gita to students in order to make them more focused, boost their morale and impart knowledge about spirituality.

"Besides teaching Bhagwad Gita, Quran and Bible, there are other ways to inculcate value education among students. We are exploring the other ways," Tawde told reporters at Vidhan Bhawan.

BMC education committee chairman Vinod Shelar said, "There is no such plan by the BMC." The official has been misquoted, Shelar said.

The BMC has 1153 schools with a total strength of 4,78,000 students. The corporation spends over Rs 3,500 crore every year to impart free education to children in nine regional languages.