UP Govt Launches ‘Padhe Lucknow, Badhe Lucknow’; More About It Here

Lucknow: On Tuesday, lakhs of students across Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh closed their textbooks and took to reading about the life of Mahatma Gandhi and Indian Freedom Struggle.

For the uninitiated, it was not a one-off exercise, but a well-planned move by the Uttar Pradesh government to inculcate the habit of reading among students.

Recently, the State governor Anandiben Patel had expressed her regret over the declining habit of reading books among the populace, especially among the school-going children. The initiative on Tuesday was part of the Governor’s suggestion to launch the ‘Padhe Lucknow, Badhe Lucknow” (Lucknow reads, Lucknow Progresses) Campaign.

The idea was to develop the habit of reading books among children instead of devouring themselves into TV and mobile games.

As part of the Campaign, schools and colleges are required to organise a reading session of 45 minutes on the first day of every month. The activity is compulsory for all schools and colleges in the Lucknow district.

Students are asked to pick a book around the theme announced for that month. If any theme related book is not available, students can read some other book other than their textbook.

The first programme under this campaign was held on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti and the theme for the inaugural session was the life of Mahatma Gandhi or the Freedom Struggle – in line with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, news reports said.

The responsibility to execute the campaign has been entrusted with the Lucknow University Vice-Chancellor. The campaign is being documented by the institutes and photos and videos are being uploaded on a University Data Resource Centre (UDRC), a link for which is available on Lucknow University website.