Centre rejects Kerala govt’s demand to reconsider changing term ‘India’ to ‘Bharat’ in textbooks

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has declined the Kerala Government’s demand to reconsider the recent recommendation of an NCERT panel to substitute the term ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ in school textbooks, according to state government sources here on Friday.

Pradhan said that the Constitution recognises both names, the sources said. The union minister affirmed the stance of the Central government regarding the issue in his response to a letter from Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty.

Defending the suggestion put forth by the NCERT-appointed Sociology Committee to change the name of the country in social science textbooks, Pradhan said that the autonomous body considers both ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’ as acceptable and does not favour one over the other. In his letter to Sivankutty, Pradhan noted that the Article 1 of the Constitution of India states that “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”

In October last year, Sivankutty had sent emails to PM Modi and Pradhan, requesting their intervention in the matter. Sivankutty had pointed out that for generations, students have learned about the country’s rich past, history, and heritage under the name ‘India.’

Kerala CM Vijayan had also made it clear that the NCERT panel’s recommendation cannot be accepted.