‘No difference between India and Bharat, there is mindless controversy’: Dharmendra Pradhan

NEW DELHI: A day after it was revealed that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) panel’s head suggested renaming ‘India’ to ‘Bharat’ in school textbooks, union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that there is no difference in the two names— “Bharat” and “India”.

“There has been an ongoing controversy in the past days over the name Bharat and India. There is no difference between India and Bharat. Bharat is the name of India. Both these names have been mentioned in our Indian Constitution. There has been mindless controversy by people who wish to create a ruckus,” he said.

Pradhan addressing the western zone vice chancellor’s conference at the Maharaj Sayajirao University Baroda, Gujarat said that both Bharat and India both represent the country. “India was used by English speaking scholars in the colonial period. Bharat is a name that indicates our civilization,” he added. The minister further laid emphasis on developing a global outlook to enhance education in India.

NCERT Textbook: ‘India’ renamed ‘Bharat’

Pradhan’s comments came after a focus group responsible for revising the NCERT textbooks for social science recommended that ‘Bharat’ be used instead of India in textbooks from Class 5 to Class 12. The recommendations are a part of the final position papers submitted to the NCERT four months ago, according to CI Issac who heads the panel on social science curriculum.

The final curriculum will be prepared based on the suggestions made in these position papers. Responding to the development, Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said that the ruling government is “confusing” Indians and that this recommendation is “anti-people, anti-India, and anti-Bharat”.

The NCERT issued a formal statement saying that the process of developing curriculum is an ongoing process. “NCERT states that since the development of new syllabus and textbooks is in the process and for that purpose various Curricular Area Groups of domain experts are being notified by the NCERT. So, it is too premature to comment on the news being flashed in the media on the concerned issue.”