'Embarrassed' NCERT chief advisors want names dropped

Dropping several topics and portions from the NCERT textbooks last month triggered a controversy

Noted social scientists Prof Suhas Palshikar and Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav have dissociated themselves from the recent cuts made by the NCERT in the six political science textbooks for classes 9 to 12 as these changes have rendered these books “mutilated beyond recognition.”

The two academicians were chief advisors to the council when the books based on the National Curriculum Framework-2005 were originally written and approved in 2006-07.

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In a letter to NCERT director Dinesh Saklani, Prof. Palshikar and Dr. Yadav have contended the changes made are “arbitrary” and “irrational”, and that "textbooks cannot and should not be shaped in this blatantly partisan manner and should not quell the spirit of critique and questioning among students of social sciences.”

Credit: Twitter/@_YogendraYadav

Last month, the council made several cuts to the original texts, including mention of the 2002 Gujarat riots, caste discrimination, and medieval Indian history- especially references to the Mughal era and the Delhi Sultanate.

The NCERT has maintained the deletions were done to "rationalize the books" to help students make a "speedy recovery" after the pandemic, and that the textbooks were headed for revision in 2024.

The changes, however, triggered a controversy as the Opposition accused the government of attempting to rewrite history.