Smriti Irani rejects reports of schools remaining open on Christmas

Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani on Monday trashed reports suggesting that schools may possibly have to remain open on Christmas, saying it is unfortunate that misreporting has been deliberately done.

"The Times of India report today is absolutely baseless and inaccurate. It is unfortunate that misreporting has been deliberately done," Irani told the media here.

Irani further said that December 25 would remain a holiday, and schools will be closed on that day.

"25th of December is Christmas and will be celebrated as such in our schools. And the schools will be shut on that day, will not operate, it is a holiday," she said.

Attempting to downplay the entire controversy, Irani said that the essay competition is online and voluntary.

"The essay competition is online voluntarily available to all students who seek to participate. It is unfortunate that a controversy has been created deliberately for grabbing headlines," she added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier on December 2 declared that 'Good Governance Day' will be observed on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday on December 25.