India and Bharat will be interchangeably used in textbooks of NCERT, says the NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani
The director of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Dinesh Prasad Saklani has recently given a statement which is spreading like a fire in the nation. The director of NCERT has said that both ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’ can be used ‘interchangeably’ in the textbooks of NCERT like it is used in the Indian Constitution.
There was a panel working on the curriculum of social science. They were constituted by the NCERT to make severe revision in the school curriculum. The panel recommended that “Bharat” should be used in position of “India” in the school textbooks of all classes.
The chairperson of the committee C I Isaac who was heading the panel has said that the name “India” should be replaced with “Bharat” in the school textbooks with the introduction of “classical history”, in place of ancient history in the school curriculum including the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) for the syllabus of all subjects.
The chairperson of the committee C I Isaac has told to the Press Trust of India (PTI) that the name “Bharat” has been used in the ancient texts. It is mentioned in the Vishnu Puran which is 7,000 years old text. The name Bharat is an old name.
But the director of NCERT has said to the editors of Press Trust of India (PTI) that both the words “India” as well as “Bharat” can be used in the school textbooks interchangeably as the Indian Constitution does the same. He completely dismisses the controversy and called it unnecessary.
He says, “It is interchangeable….our position is what our Constitution says and we uphold that. We can use Bharat, we can use India, what is the problem? We are not in that debate. Wherever it suits we will use India, wherever it suits we will use Bharat. We have no aversion to either India or Bharat.”
He further added, “You can see both being used in our textbooks already and that will continue in new textbooks. This is a useless debate.”
