NCERT to replace India with Bharat in their upcoming textbook sets

New Delhi: A change may soon be seen in the books of the National Council of Educational Research and Training, i.e., NCERT. The committee constituted by NCERT on Wednesday approved the proposal of changing 'INDIA' to 'Bharat' in the books. This change will appear in the next set of NCERT books.

According to CI Issac, one of the panel members, this proposal was put forward a few months ago. The proposal suggests replacing the name "India" with "Bharat" in textbooks, including "classical history" instead of "ancient history" in the curriculum, and incorporating the Indian Knowledge System (IKS).The committee has unanimously recommended using 'Bharat' in textbooks for students across classes.A new batch of NCERT books is soon to be released. In the new books, children will read Bharat instead of India.

CI further stated, "The committee has recommended teaching the war victory of Hindu kings." Our defeat has been depicted in the texts, but our victory against the Mughals and Sultans is not mentioned. CI Isaac is a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR). In accordance with the National Education Policy 2020, NCERT is making changes to its curriculum.

This 19-member committee comprises ICHR Chairperson Raghavendra Tanwar, JNU Professor Vandana Mishra, Deccan College Deemed University Vice Chancellor Vasant Shinde, and Mamta Yadav, a sociology teacher at a Haryana government school.

Notably, The NCERT panel's recommendation comes at a time when political debates over changing the name INDIA to Bharat are raging in the political sphere.The controversy over 'Bharat' vs. 'India' began when the Center titled the invitation of President Draupadi Murmu's G20 dinner as "President of Bharat" rather than "President of India," causing a political uproar. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the G20 Leaders Summit in September at the Bharat Mandapam in Delhi's Pragati Maidan, the word 'Bharat' was also displayed on his nameplate.