“In a Landmark Move, NCERT Greenlights ‘Bharat’ in Next Textbooks”
In a significant development, a proposal put forth by a National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) panel to replace ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ in the next edition of textbooks has been unanimously accepted. This decision was confirmed by CI Isaac, a member of the panel.
The proposal, which was introduced several months ago, has garnered attention and sparked discussions about the potential official name change of the country to ‘Bharat’. Notably, the invitations for the recent G20 dinner, hosted by President Droupadi Murmu, referred to her as the “President of Bharat,” leading to a political debate.
Further reinforcing the idea of this change, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nameplate during his address at the G20 Leaders’ Summit, held at the Bharat Mandapam in Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, prominently featured ‘Bharat’ instead of ‘India.’ Videos and photos of this event with the ‘Bharat’ placard quickly went viral.
It’s important to note that Article 1 (1) of the Constitution defines the name of the country as “India, that is Bharat shall be the Union of States.”
In addition to the name change, the panel’s proposal, introduced several months ago, also includes recommendations to emphasize ‘Hindu victories’ in the textbooks. Furthermore, it suggests replacing ‘ancient history’ with ‘classical history,’ and history will no longer be categorized into ancient, medieval, and modern.
The panel has also put forth the idea of incorporating the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) into the curriculum across all subjects.
This committee is just one of the 25 committees collaborating with NCERT at the central level to align the curriculum with the National Education Policy 2020.
