Mumbai, July 12: College students in Mumbai will soon be getting a copy of Bhagavad Gita from the state government to make them independent and sharpen their power in decision making. According to a tweet by News 18, the Maharashtra Education Department has decided to distribute Bhagavad Gita- the most revered text in the Hindu religious tradition in 100 colleges which have been accredited as 'A' and 'A+' in Mumbai.

However, Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde clarified that the government is not distributing Bhagwad Gita but  Bhakti Vedant Trust from Bhiwandi wanted to distribute Bhagwad Gita at colleges and hence, the list of colleges was given. "Govt is not distributing Bhagwad Gita. Bhakti Vedant Trust from Bhiwandi wanted to distribute Bhagwad Gita at colleges. We provided them with a list of colleges. If someone says they want to distribute Quran&Bible we'll give them the list of colleges too", Tawde said.

The Bhagavad Gita is ranked as one of the greatest repository of wisdom since ages. There have been numerous interpretations, commentaries and expositions on the verses of the Gita.

Meanwhile, the Higher Education Director of Mumbai has also instructed all the non-government aided colleges in the city to get their sets of the holy book. Aashish Gade, the President f Republican Vidhyarthi Sena was quoted by Mumbai Live saying that the state government should make sure that every college gets NAAC accreditation rather than distributing sets of Bhagavad Gita.

“The decision is ridiculous. Instead of this, the state government should give a set of the Indian constitution as this would set a good example of a progressive state”, Gade added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 12, 2018 04:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).