Ally protest BJP govt order to paint Bihar schools saffron

New Delhi: A Bihar government directive ordering all 551 Model Schools, recently renamed Saraswati Vidya Niketan, to be painted saffron has triggered a political storm, with the move being described by critics as the latest instance of the saffronisation of education in India. The order, made public on July 20, has drawn criticism not only from opposition parties but also from the Janata Dal (United), the Bharatiya Janata Party's principal ally in the state.

According to The Indian Express, JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar objected to assigning any colour identity to education, arguing that schools should reflect constitutional values rather than political symbolism. He also questioned the decision to place the names of land donors below the new school signboards.

Opposition parties accused the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government of advancing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's education agenda through the renaming of schools and the saffron paint directive. They argued that the move was intended to impart a political colour to the education system and warned of its implications for democratic values.

The repainting exercise is part of the state's Unnat Shiksha-Ujjwal Bhavishya scheme, which earmarked ₹800 crore in 2026-27 to upgrade all district schools and one higher secondary school in every block. While about ₹1.45 crore has been allocated for each school, critics contend that the most visible changes so far have been the schools' new names and saffron exteriors.

The controversy follows similar disputes in BJP-ruled states. In Rajasthan, government colleges were repainted in orange and white in 2024, while Karnataka's decision to paint classrooms saffron in 2022 sparked widespread criticism. A government school in Haryana had also adopted saffron and green colours in 2019. More recently, part of Kolkata's Academy of Fine Arts was painted saffron, triggering protests by theatre artists.

Based on The Wire report