Rajasthan to paint college gates orange to create ‘positive’ environment for studies

The Rajasthan government issued an order to paint the gates of the government colleges across the state orange in order to create a “peaceful and positive environment” for studies.
The Department of College Education of Rajasthan said in a statement that under the Kayakalp scheme, the order will be implemented in a total of 20 colleges in the 10 divisions, on a pilot basis.
“The educational environment and scenario of the colleges should be such that the students feel positive as soon as they enter college and a good message about higher education should be sent to society. Therefore, the colleges have to be rejuvenated to create a positive, clean, healthy and educational environment in the colleges,” the release stated.
It further said that the painting of the gates in the 20 colleges should be completed within seven days using White Gold and Orange Brown colours of Asian Paints. The colleges should send pictures of the gates to the education department after they are painted, the notification stated.
The Congress criticised the order and called it “saffronisation” of education.
Vinod Jakhar, state president of the National Students’ Union of India, the student wing of the Congress, said, “While thousands of lecturer posts are vacant in the state, there are no buildings in the colleges, there are no benches, the government is spending public money for politics.”