NCERT Panel Shake-Up: RSS-Linked Academics Join Textbook Team!
NCERT Panel Shake-Up: RSS-Linked Academics Join Textbook Team!
Major changes at NCERT! Discover how new academics with RSS ties are shaping political science textbooks for Classes 11 & 12. #NCERT #EducationNews
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has announced a significant reconstitution of its textbook development team for political science, covering classes 11 and 12. This move comes with a clear mandate to weave "cultural rootedness, Indian knowledge systems, and inclusion" into the curriculum. The newly formed team is tasked with developing the Class 11 textbook by November of this year, followed by the Class 12 textbook by July of next year.
The panel will be steered by prominent academic and political analyst Sandeep Shastri, who also serves as the vice-president of Nitte, a deemed university based in Karnataka. However, what has drawn particular attention is the inclusion of at least four academics and educationists who have documented direct or indirect affiliations with organizations linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Among these notable members is Yadunath Deshpande, currently a senior consultant with the Ministry of Education. Mr. Deshpande boasts a long organizational history with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, having previously served as its joint state organizing secretary for Maharashtra. His LinkedIn profile further identifies him as a political consultant for the BJP. Another key figure, Prashant Divekar, has deep ties to Jnana Prabodhini in Pune, an institution founded in 1962 by Vinayak Vishwanath, an RSS member and pracharak. Mr. Divekar’s approach, as described in his National Council for Teacher Education profile, is "rooted in Bhartiya educational philosophy," and he is noted for his contributions to the National Curriculum Framework.
The panel also includes Vandana Mishra, a professor at JNU’s Centre for Political Studies, who previously held the position of national secretary for the ABVP. Additionally, Ravi Rameshchandra Shukla, an Associate Professor at JNU’s Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Theory, has been a member of the editorial board for the Indian Journal of Democratic Governance. This journal is published by the Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership-Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, another entity with close ties to the broader RSS-BJP ecosystem. The composition of this expert panel signals a deliberate shift in the pedagogical approach to political science education in India.
