State anthem mandatory in all school assemblies in Maharashtra: Dada Bhuse

The song is written by Raja Nilkanth Badhe. It was declared as the official state song in February 2023. Students will have to sing two stanzas of this song which has a total length of 101 seconds.

On Monday, Bhuse presented his roadmap for the next 100 days at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Among various initiatives, he highlighted the importance of ensuring that all schools—whether government-run or affiliated with boards like CBSE, ICSE, or international boards—play the state song every day. The initiative aims to familiarise students across the state with Maharashtra’s anthem and foster a deeper connection with the state’s identity.

Bhuse also reiterated his commitment to enforcing the regulation that mandates Marathi language teaching in all schools. This rule, introduced in 2021, has not been consistently followed by many non-state board schools. “The state song should be played in all schools to not only ensure students learn it, but also to help young children understand and connect with the state of Maharashtra,” Bhuse stated last week.

In addition to this cultural initiative, Bhuse outlined several measures for the future of education sector, including geo-tagging all schools and Anganwadis, mapping them with photographs for the effective implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Bhuse also announced that one school from each cluster would be developed as a ‘CM Shri School,’ on the lines of the national PM Shri School Scheme.

Starting from the academic year 2025-26, the state will implement a new State Curriculum Framework based on the recommendations of NEP 2020. CM Fadnavis, during the meeting, directed the department to also focus on the registration of pre-primary education, as per NEP guidelines, and set qualification criteria for pre-primary educators, ensuring that certificates are displayed in schools for parents’ information.

Additional measures in Bhuse’s roadmap include ranking schools based on the quality of education, creating a digital registry of effective teaching practices, adapting the CBSE pattern for state schools, and expediting the teacher recruitment process.