It's a lie...: NCERT chief on modifying Class 12 history books

Amid controversy over National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)'s new class 12 history textbooks in which portions about Mughal courts have been removed in UP schools, Education Ministry on Tuesday has now issued a clarification and said there are no new changes.

Speaking to ANI, NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani said the chapters on Mughals have not been dropped. "It's a lie. (Chapters on) Mughals have not been dropped. There was a rationalisation process last year because due to COVID, there was pressure on students everywhere", he said.

''Expert committees examined the books from standard 6-12. They recommended that if this chapter is dropped, it won't affect the knowledge of the children and an unnecessary burden can be removed...The debate is unnecessary. Those who don't know, can check the textbooks...," he said.

"We are working as per NEP (National Education Policy) 2020. This is a transition phase. NEP 2020 speaks of reducing the content load. We are implementing it. NCF (National Curriculum Framework) for school education is being formed, it will be finalised soon. Textbooks will be printed in 2024 as per NEP. We have not dropped anything right now", the NCERT chief added further.

According to reports, NCERT has removed chapters and topics related to 'Kings and Chronicles: The Mughal courts' from history book 'Themes of Indian History-Part II' under its new rationalised syllabus to be taught in Class 12 from the academic session 2023-24.

The news agency PTI has reported that in the class 12 political science textbook, pages on the topic 'Gujarat Riots' have been excluded from the chapter titled 'Recent Developments in Indian Politics'.

CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury was among those who criticised the move, calling it communal.

"Communal rewriting of history intensifies. NCERT revises Class XII history book removing chapters on Mughal empire. The lands of India have always been the churning crucible of civilisational advances through cultural confluences," he tweeted.

In a jibe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi quipped that UP will produce its own version of history and biology.

Meanwhile, Dinesh Prasad Saklani called the allegation "totally fake and baseless".