How to Participate in Writing Competition on Guru Tegh Bahadur 2022

The Ministry of Education (MOE), Government of India, is glad to announce an essay competition for wider participation of students studying in schools in India both at the Secondary (Classes IX-XII) stages on the theme, ‘Life and Message of Guru Tegh Bahadur’, on the occasion of the celebration of the 400th Prakash Parv of the 9th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur.

This is an auspicious occasion for all citizens of India and especially so for the school-going children to remember the heroic life of the great Sikh Guru and his message for the whole humankind. The Guru advocated for to respecting all faiths and living in peace and mutual harmony.

The life and message of Guru Tegh Bahadur reinforces our commitment to not only work towards the goal of having a socially harmonious and economically strong nation that is rooted in its age-old culture of sarve dharma samabhava but also spread it all across the world for a better future for the humankind.

Themes

The Themes are given below:

Generic Themes:

Evolution of the Sikh Religion
Sikhism and its Philosophy
The Sikh Way of Life
Ethics in the Sikh Tradition
Sikhism as a Devotional Path to Spiritual Fulfillment
The Guru Granth Sahib
Religious Tenets of Sikhism
The Sikh Historical Places of Worship and Pilgrimage.
Sikhism and the Tradition of Khalsa
Sikhism and its Practices

Specific Themes on Guru Teg Bahadur:

Guru Teg Bahadur and his Times
Guru Teg Bahadur and his Role as the 9th Sikh Guru
Guru Teg Bahadur: an Example of Courage
Guru Teg Bahadur the Champion of Freedom and Sacrifice
Guru Teg Bahadur : A True legatee of Baba Guru Nanak Dev

Participation Details

The essay competition is meant for students of Secondary stages of schools under CBSE, KVS, NVS, NIOS and all School Boards/SCERTs at the State/UT Level in India.

Secondary Stage

Classes IX-X
Classes XI-XII

Words Limit for Essays

For the Classes IX-X the essay should be within 500 words limit;
For the Classes XI-XII the essay should be within 800 words limit.
The entries should not exceed the respective words’ limit failing which the entries would be disqualified.

Languages for the Essays

Essays must be written either in Hindi or in English

Mode of submission

The participant should submit the write-up in PDF file format only.
Visit the website www.MyGov.in to submit the essay.
Write-up text should be submitted in readable font of Hindi/English Times New Roman for English and Unicode for Devanagari.
Font size should be 12 for English and 14 for Hindi.
Line spacing should be uniformly 1.15 only.

Participate in Guru Tegh Bahadur Competition 2022

Timelines

Start Date:	1st April, 2022
End Date:	30th April,2022

Terms & Conditions

The Competition is open to all Indian students studying in schools from classes IX to XII.
All entries must be submitted on www.MyGov.in. Entries submitted through any other portal/ medium/mode will not be considered for evaluation.
A participant can send one entry only. In case it is found that any participant has submitted more than one entry, all the entries will be considered as invalid.
Each entry should be original. Plagiarised entries will not be considered for evaluation and will treated as invalid.
The entry must be made by the same person who writes the essay. Plagiarism in any manner will not be accepted.
Please note that the Essay must be original and should not violate any provision of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957.
Anyone found infringing on others’ copyright would be disqualified from the competition. Government of India does not bear any responsibility for copyright violations or infringements of Intellectual Property Rights by the participants.
Mention of name/email etc. of the participant anywhere in the body of the essay will lead to disqualification.
Participants to make sure that their www.MyGov.in profile is accurate and updated as MoE shall be using this for further communication. This includes details such as the name, photograph, complete postal address, e-mail ID and phone number. Entries with incomplete profiles will not be considered.
MoE reserves the right to cancel or amend all or any part of the Competition and/or the Terms & Conditions/Technical Parameters/Evaluation Criteria etc.

However, any changes to the Terms and Conditions/Technical Parameters/Evaluation Criteria, or cancellation of the Contest, will be updated/posted on the www.MyGov.in platform. It would be the responsibility of the participants to keep themselves informed of any changes in the Terms & Conditions/Technical Parameters/Evaluation Criteria etc. stated for this Contest.

Evaluation Criteria

Selection of the best essays will be taken up at two levels:
At the first level, each SCERT will form a Committee of Experts to examine the entries at the State/UT level and out of these select the 10 best entries for dispatch to the NCERT.
Next, the selected 10 essay from each State/UT will constitute a pool of selected essays at the national level for final selection of 36 (thirtysix) best entries by a Team of Experts constituted by the NCERT.
All the entries received within the due date will be placed before Team of Experts, the decision of which will be final and binding on all the contestants.
Any legal proceeding arising out of the competition/its entries/ winners shall be subject to the jurisdiction of Delhi only.

The write-ups will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

Central Theme – Subject Content (40%)
Coherence in the organization of content (20%)
Correctness of language and clarity in expression (20%)
Creativity in style and presentation (20%)

Certification and Award

Attractive prizes shall be announced shortly for the national level entries. However, participation certificates shall be jointly issued by NCERT and My-Gov for all participants who submit their essays.

List of Publications for Reference

Ram Krishna Sudhakar, Guru Tegh Bahadur,
Publisher – Amar Chitra Katha (2003), English (32 pages), Kindle Edition.
[Rs. 73.50; flipkart]

Dr. Mahip Singh, Lokpriya Sant-Bhakt-kabi − Guru Tegh Bahadur,
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., Hindi (126 pages), Paperback.
[Rs. 125.00; flipkart]

Sohan Singh Seetal, Lasani Shaheed Guru Tegh Bahadur ji,
Lahore Publication, Punjabi (140 pages), Hard Cover Book.
[Rs. 150.00; flipkart]

Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs (Vol. II),
Oxford India Paperbacks (2nd Edition, 2004), English (576 pages),
[Rs. 320.00; Amazon]

Satbir Singh (Editor),
Guru Tegh Bahadur Commemorative Volume,
Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Tercentenary Martyrdom Gurpurab Committee,
Government of India (1975)

Khushwant Singh, Songs of the Gurus-From Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., English (Pages 144), Paperback.
[Rs. 399.00; Amazon]

Darshan Singh, Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur,
Anamika Publishers (2003), English.

H.S. Singha, The Encyclopedia of Sikhism,
Hemkunt Press (2000), English.

Mohindar Kohli, Guru Tegh Bahadur: Testimony of Conscience,
Sahitya Akademi (1992) – New Deli, English.

Prithi Singh, The History of Sikh Gurus,
Lotus Press (2006), English.

Surjit Singh Gandhi, History of Sikh Gurus Retold (Vol. 2),
Atlantic Publishers (2007), English.