In an attempt to put the controversy around Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned Teachers' Day speech to rest, Human Resource Development Minister, Smriti Irani said on Monday that the interaction was not mandatory, and schools and students could choose to not to participate. She also urged others not to politicise the event, but strong partisan lines seem to have divided schools across Pune, affecting their decision to screen the speech or not.

The Shankarrao More Vidyalaya in Erandawne is one of the schools that won't screen the PM's speech today

There is a clear demarcation in the preparations schools have made for the live telecast of the PM's first interaction with school students across the country, depending on their association with different political parties or ideologies, be it Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In some schools, preparations were on in full swing, while in others, the speech didn't even find a mention.

Drawing lines
At the Rajashri Shivaray Pratishthan High School, established and managed by senior Shiv Sena leader, Shashikant Sutar, preparations had begun from Tuesday itself. "We issued circulars intimating students and staff about the PM's speech scheduled to be telecast in the afternoon today. Our school has a television set, but to ensure all 700 students in the school could witness the PM's thoughts, we plan to place a big projector in our assembly hall," said Sandhya Deshpande, school principal.