'Bharat' To Replace 'India' In School Textbooks: NCERT Approves Panel Recommendation

The next set of NCERT books will reflect this name change.

NCERT panel recommends replacing ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ in school textbooks.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has approved the recommendation of a high-level committee for social sciences to replace the name ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ in textbooks and introduce ‘classical History’ instead of ancient History in the curriculum. According to committee chairperson C I Isaac, the panel has 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 textbooks for students across classes. We have also recommended introducing 'classical history' instead of 'ancient history' in the textbooks," Isaac told PTI.

He said the committee has also recommended highlighting "Hindu victories" in various battles in the textbooks.

"Our failures are presently mentioned in the textbooks. But our victories over the Mughals and sultans are not," PTI quoted Isaac as saying.

On NCERT panel recommendation of replacing 'India' with 'Bharat' in school textbooks, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar says, "Why are we saying the Reserve Bank of India, Indian Administrative Service and Indian Foreign Service? In our passports, we have the Republic of India... I think something wrong has happened to this government... Why are they confusing the minds of Indians?... Whatever stand they have taken is completely anti-people, anti-India, and anti-Bharat... I am telling you they (NCERT) have been forced by the NDA government. This is completely wrong... You can't change the history of India... Karnataka will continue with whatever there was earlier..."

The NCERT is currently revising school textbooks in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. To oversee this process, the council has assembled a 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) responsible for finalizing curriculum, textbooks, and learning materials for these classes.

Furthermore, the committee has proposed the integration of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) into the curriculum for all subjects," according to Isaac.

Prominent members of the committee include Raghuvendra Tanwar, Chairperson of ICHR, Vandana Mishra, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Vasant Shinde, former vice-chancellor of Deccan College Deemed University, and Mamta Yadav, a sociology teacher in a Haryana government school.