NCERT clarifies on India to Bharat name change in school textbooks: ‘Too premature to comment’

The high-level committee for social sciences constituted by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has issued a recommendation that "India" should be replaced with "Bharat" in the school textbooks for all classes. 

The NCERT took to micro-blogging site ‘X’ and clarified on the buzz over name change of the country from India to Bharat, it said “NCERT states that since the development of new syllabus and textbooks is in the process and for that purpose various Curricular Area Groups of domain experts are being notified by the NCERT.”

“So, it is too premature to comment on the news being flashed in the media on the concerned issue.” the NCERT post added. 

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"India" should be replaced with "Bharat" in the school textbooks for all classes, a high-level committee for social sciences, constituted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to revise the school curriculum, has recommended.

According to committee chairperson C I Isaac, the panel has suggested replacing the name "India" with "Bharat" in the textbooks, introducing "classical history", instead of "ancient history", in the curriculum and including the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the syllabus for all subjects.

NCERT Chairman Dinesh Saklani, however, said no decision has been taken yet on the panel's recommendations.

"The committee has unanimously recommended that the name 'Bharat' should be used in the textbooks for students across classes. We have also recommended introducing classical history instead of ancient history in the textbooks," Isaac told PTI.

"Bharat is an age-old name. The name Bharat has been used in ancient texts, such as Vishnu Purana, which is 7,000 years old," Isaac said.

The name Bharat first appeared officially when the government sent out G20 invites in the name of "President of Bharat", instead of "President of India".

Later, the nameplate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the summit in New Delhi also read "Bharat", instead of India.

Isaac said the committee has also recommended highlighting "Hindu victories" in various battles in the textbooks.

The NCERT is revising the curriculum of the school textbooks in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The council recently constituted a 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) to finalise the curriculum, textbooks and learning material for these classes.

Other members of the committee include ICHR Chairperson Raghuvendra Tanwar, Vandana Mishra, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Vasant Shinde, former vice-chancellor of the Deccan College Deemed University, and Mamta Yadav, who teaches sociology in a Haryana government school.

(With inputs from agencies)