"What's Wrong" With Saffron?: B Bommai Defends New Colour Code In Schools

Under the 'Viveka' scheme named after Swami Vivekananda, the Karnataka government has proposed the construction of 7,601 classrooms across the state.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday defended the government's move to paint the thousands of school classrooms to be constructed under the newly launched 'Viveka' scheme with saffron colour.

Under the 'Viveka' scheme named after Swami Vivekananda, the Karnataka government has proposed the construction of 7,601 classrooms across the state.

Mr Bommai launched the scheme on Children's Day by laying the foundation stone in Government Higher Primary School at Madiyal in Kalaburagi district.

Asked to comment about the move of colour coding such classrooms with saffron that has sparked controversy, the Chief Minister said: "What's wrong to have saffron colour? There's saffron colour in the (national) tricolour. Swami Vivekananda himself used to wear saffron robe".