Patna,(BiharTimes): After strong criticism from scholars and media the state government on Friday clarified that the move to mark April 14 as Emperor Ashoka’s birthday is based on the Hindi (lunar) calendar, thus the date may wary from year to year.

Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said Ashoka’s date of birth is mentioned as Ashtami of Shuklapaksha in the month of Chaitra in some historical documents.

He said that since in 2016, this day is on April 14 the government declared it as Ashoka Jyanti day.

According to principal secretary, General Administration Department (GAD), Amir Subhani, who is also Home Secretary the date would vary every year as per the Hindi calendar. He said so far the government has not made any declaration about the state celebration on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Acharya Kishore Kunal, chairman of the Bihar Board of Religious Trusts, is latest to question the state government’s decision.

The former IPS officer, who has written extensively on Ancient India said he was not able to comprehend how the government could pinpoint Asoka's date of birth so easily.

“While writing my book ‘Dalit Devo Bhav’ I had referred to all important sources related to the Mauryan dynasty, but didn’t come across a definite date of Asoka’s birth,” he was quoted in The Telegraph as saying.

What is interesting is that in 2015 the BJP celebrated Ashoka’s birthday on May 17.