Vande Mataram first, Jana Gana Mana second, Center repeats

Union Home Minister Amit Shah. | Photo credit: PTI

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked states and central ministries to “strictly comply” with its directive that National Song Vande Mataram be played before Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem, whenever both are played at official events.

In a letter dated July 9 to Chief Secretaries of States and Secretaries of Union Ministries, Joint Secretary Arvind Khare said that “The National Song Regulations provide that — when the National Song and the National Anthem are sung or played, the National Song shall be sung or played first.

‘Follow the correct diction’

The letter said that while singing or playing the national song and national anthem, “their correct script/lyrics and diction/pronunciation should be strictly followed”.

Attached to the letter was a previously issued regulation that contains an exhaustive list of occasions during which the national song and national anthem “shall be played or sung” at the beginning or end of an event, or twice. “Appropriate instructions are requested to be issued in this regard to all concerned institutions/organizations under your jurisdiction for strict compliance,” the MHA said.

February order

Earlier, on February 6, the MHA, in a set of guidelines to states and other government bodies, had recommended that all six slokas of Vande Mataram, about 3.10 minutes long, should be sung or played at official functions and should take precedence over the national anthem.

Vande Mataram, a salute to India imagined as mother, was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and published with his novel Anandamath in the early 1880s. In 1937, the leaders of the Indian National Congress, which led the national movement, decided to use the first two stanzas in their rallies. The Constitution of the modern Republic of India granted it the status of a national song.

Jana Gana Mana was written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore.

On May 5, the Union Cabinet gave its approval to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honor Act, 1971 to make any insult or obstruction to the singing of Vande Mataram a criminal offence. A bill to this effect is likely to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament scheduled to begin on July 20.

Currently, insults to Jan Gana Man, the national flag and the Constitution of India are mentioned in the 1971 Act and are punishable with imprisonment of up to three years or fine or both.

Published – 11 Jul 2026 21:25 IST