NCERT overhauls textbook committee; four members of new panel linked to RSS, ABVP
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New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has reconstituted its expert committee for preparing political science textbooks for Classes 11 and 12. At least four members of the 20-member committee have direct or indirect links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) or the BJP, according to reports.
The new committee is headed by Sandeep Shastri, vice-president of Nitte University in Karnataka and a prominent academic. NCERT has directed the panel to prepare the textbooks in line with the new curriculum framework, incorporating the Indian knowledge system and cultural heritage. The committee has been asked to complete the Class 11 textbook by November this year and the Class 12 textbook by July next year.
The political backgrounds of four members of the new textbook committee have now become a major point of discussion. One of them, Yadunath Deshpande, currently serves as a senior consultant in the Ministry of Education. He previously worked as the joint state organising secretary of the ABVP in Maharashtra and as a political consultant for the BJP.
Another member, Vandana Mishra, is a professor at the Centre for Political Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). She is also a former national secretary of the ABVP.
Two other prominent members of the committee have similar backgrounds. Prashant Divekar has long been associated with Jnana Prabodhini, a Pune-based organisation founded by RSS member Vinayak Vishwanath. Another member, Ravi Ramesh Chandra Shukla, an associate professor at JNU, has served on the editorial board of a journal published by the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, an institution associated with the RSS.
The committee also includes experts and prominent academics from institutions such as JNU, the University of Delhi, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and National Law Universities.
According to NCERT's new notification, the committee will consult other curricular groups working on languages, environmental education and innovative teaching methods before finalising the new textbooks.