MP govt plays down syllabi dispute issue

Bhopal, Jun 21: Dismissing as '' baseless'' a dispute over change of syllabi for Madhya Pradesh's primary and secondary classes, the state government has said the modifications were effected in view of changing times and in consultation with academicians.

Objecting to the deletion of lessons on India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his wife, besides some poems, the main opposition Congress alleged an attempt at ''saffronising'' education.

''There is no question of a dispute. The Congress has no issue and is therefore making meaningless statements. The truth is Pandit Nehru's poem was deleted from the class one syllabus while two lessons linked to him 'Pita ke Putra Putri ke Naam' and 'Aakhri Wasiyat' were included in the class four and class seven syllabi respectively,'' School Education Minister Narottam Mishra told UNI.

He said the syllabi were modified in view of a Supreme Court directive for incorporating more topics related to the environment and children's surroundings.

''A committee constituted by the Rajya Shiksha Kendra profoundly contemplated on conclusions of workshops involving intellectuals and specialists,'' Mr Mishra added.

Earlier, voices rose in protest against the deletion of 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' and some other poems. Kendra sources said several interesting songs were part of the syllabus.

UNI