NCERT working as RSS arm, assaulting Constitution, says Jairam Ramesh

On Monday Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the institution has been functioning as an RSS affiliate since 2014 and is mounting an assault on the ConstitutionAmid the row over revision of NCERT textbooks in a post on X Jairam Ramesh said the National Testing Agency has blamed the NCERT for the grace marks fiasco in NEET 2024Jairam Ramesh alleged that is only drawing attention away from the NTAs own abject failuresHowever it is true that the NCERT is no longer a professional institution It has been functioning as an RSS affiliate since 2014 It has just been revealed that its revised Class XI political science textbook criticises the idea of secularism as well as what it considers policies of political parties in this regard NCERTs objective is to produce textbooks not political pamphlets and propaganda the Congress leader saidNCERT is mounting an assault on our countrys Constitution in whose Preamble secularism features explicitly as a foundational pillar of the Indian republic Various Supreme Court judgments have clearly held secularism to be an essential part of the basic structure of the Constitution Jairam Ramesh saidRamesh said the NCERT needs to remind itself that it is the National Council for Educational Research and Training not the Nagpur or Narendra Council for Educational Research and TrainingAll of its textbooks are now of dubious quality vastly different from those that shaped me in school the Congress general secretary allegedTMC leader Saket Gokhale also hit out at the NCERT saying Shameless NDA 10 Government is hiding inconvenient facts from students reported PTIBy this logic why teach kids about other violent depressing things like the World War he saidAre BJP and Modi ashamed of their history as criminals and rioters Why hide the truth from students Gokhale asked reported PTIRejecting accusations of saffronisation of school curriculum the NCERT director has said that references to Gujarat riots and Babri masjid demolition were modified in school textbooks because teaching about riots can create violent and depressed citizens reported PTIIn an interaction with PTI editors National Council of Educational Research and Training NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani said the tweaks in textbooks are part of annual revision and should not be a subject of hue and crySaklani said Why should we teach about riots in school textbooks We want to create positive citizens not violent and depressed individualsHe added Should we teach our students in a manner that they become offensive create hatred in society or become victim of hatred Is that educations purpose Should we teach about riots to such young children When they grow up they can learn about it but why school textbooks Let them understand what happened and why it happened when they grow up The hue and cry about the changes is irrelevant reported PTIWith inputs from PTI