With the purported aim of instilling nationalism and patriotism in workers, the civic body of Jaipur has ordered all staff to sing the national anthem in the morning and Vande Mataram in the evening. Attendance is compulsory and, according to Jaipur mayor Ashok Lahoty, anyone opposing the decision “should go to Pakistan”.

“Nothing has more positive energy than the national song. One should go home with the positive energy of the national song and give quality time to his family,” said mayor Ashok Lahoty, The Indian Express reported. “It has many benefits. This will develop a work culture, there will be positive energy. This will increase workmanship,” added the mayor, who is a BJP counsellor and was elected last December.

According to the written order, the anthem will be played at 9.50 am and national song at 5.55 pm at the civic body’s headquarters. Zonal offices and fire stations will follow later. The bio-metric system will not accept any more entries once the national anthem is played in the morning.

The mayor said the purpose of the diktat was also to “increase collectivity and discipline; another aim is to make people come to office on time”.

The Congress has alleged that the BJP-run body wants to hide its civic failures under the garb of patriotism, the report said.

The Supreme Court recently told the government to consider regulating the playing of the national anthem and observed that “we don’t have to wear patriotism on our sleeve”.