NCERT revises books again; Yogendra Yadav, Suhas Palshikar threaten to sue over use of names

NEW DELHI: After the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) director Dinesh Prasad Saklani said that the words "Bharat" and "India" will be used interchangeably in NCERT textbooks, political scientists Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar objected to carrying their names in the textbooks and said they may take legal action if not withdrawn.

The NCERT director’s comments come in the wake of a high-level panel working on the social science curriculum recommending that "India" should be replaced with "Bharat" in school textbooks for all classes.

Palshikar and Yadav, who were chief advisors for NCERT political science textbooks, had last year in June said that the rationalisation exercise has "mutilated the books beyond recognition” and rendered them "academically dysfunctional" and demanded that their names be dropped from the books.

After their joint statement, the NCERT posted a clarification stating that “the terms of these Textbook Development Committees (TDCs) have ended since the date of their first publication. However, NCERT acknowledges their academic contribution and only because of this, for the sake of record, publishes names of all Textbook Development Committee (TDC) members in each of its textbook.”

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“NCERT, as the copy-right owner of all its textbooks, adopts clear procedures to make corrections/changes from time to time depending on (a) feedbacks received from their users (teachers, students etc.) (b) identification of factual inaccuracies, incompatible expression based on core values as recommended for textbook development etc. NCERT has been doing so on a regular basis for its reprint editions,” the image of the notification was shared by Yadav on X. The TDCs were constitutes by the NCERT during the year 2005-2008.

Use of 'Bharat', India in NCERT books

In an interaction with PTI editors at the agency's headquarters here, the NCERT chief said both the words will be used in the books and the council has no aversion to either "Bharat" or "India".

"It is interchangeable....our position is what our Constitution says and we uphold that. We can use Bharat, we can use India, what is the problem? We are not in that debate. Wherever it suits we will use India, wherever it suits we will use Bharat. We have no aversion to either India or Bharat," he said.

"You can see both being used in our textbooks already and that will continue in new textbooks. This is a useless debate," Saklani said. A high-level committee for social sciences, constituted by the NCERT to revise the school curriculum, had last year recommended that "India" should be replaced with "Bharat" in the textbooks for all classes.

Committee chairperson C I Isaac, who was heading the panel, had said they have suggested replacing the name "India" with "Bharat" in the textbooks, introducing "classical history", instead of "ancient history" in the curriculum, and including the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the syllabus for all subjects. "The committee has unanimously recommended that the name Bharat should be used in the textbooks for students across classes. Bharat is an age-old name. The name Bharat has been used in ancient texts, such as Vishnu Purana, which is 7,000 years old," Isaac had told PTI.

Political scientists threaten legal action

"Besides the earlier practice of selective deletions, the NCERT has resorted to significant additions and rewriting that are out of sync with the spirit of the original textbooks… the NCERT has no moral or legal right to distort these textbooks without consulting any of us and yet publish these under our names despite our explicit refusal," the letter said.

"There can be arguments and debates about someone’s claims to authorship of any given work. But it is bizarre that authors and editors are forced to associate their names with a work they no longer identify as their own," the latest letter addressed to NCERT read.

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Deleted topics in NCERT textbooks

As per the latest rationalization, topics including BJP's 'rath yatra' from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya; the role of kar sevaks; communal violence in the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid; President's rule in BJP-ruled states; and the BJP's expression of "regret over the happenings at Ayodhya" have been deleted.

Rejecting accusations of saffronisation of the school curriculum, NCERT's director has said that references to Gujarat riots and Babri masjid demolition were modified in school textbooks because teaching about riots "can create violent and depressed citizens."

The NCERT director on Sunday told PTI the tweaks in textbooks are part of annual revision and should not be a subject of hue and cry.