"Now, if anybody has objection to teaching Gita, let me tell you that it is not a religious book. 192 nations took part in the International Yoga Day on June 21, out of which 47 were Muslim countries.
"The Deoband (seminary) and others also said that Gita is not a religious book. It (Gita) is knowledge, science, it is curiosity, it is solution, Gita is life... It contains the dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna. We decided to included Gita teaching in curriculum as part of moral education," Sharma said while addressing 'meet-the-press' programme here today.
Continuing with his reply, Sharma said: "now, whether we are saffronising or not, I want to state that Nalanda and Taxila were great centres of learning in ancient times in our country and students from around the world used to come to study in these centres."
"Yesterday, two intellectuals from Germany met me in Rishikesh and they hailed our decision of going ahead with the inclusion of Gita in curriculum," he said.
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Meanwhile, Sharma, who also holds the Transport portfolio, said the state government would soon announce a new policy to improve transport services in the state.
To finalise the policy the government has already held a meeting with various employees unions and other stakeholders, he said.
Noting that 40 lakh passengers were commuting via state transport daily, the minister also indicated involving participation of private sector to meet the ever-growing passenger rush. "Even though the government is adding 1,000 buses to the State Roadways fleet taking their number to 5,100, but this will not be sufficient to meet the passenger rush," he said.
Under the scheme, while the driver will be provided by the state roadways, the buses and conductors are provided by the owners, Sharma said.