The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has restructured its Textbook Development Team for classes 11 and 12 in political science. The new team will focus on incorporating cultural rootedness, Indian knowledge systems, and inclusivity into the curriculum. Notably, at least four members of this team have direct or indirect affiliations with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The textbook team will be led by academic and political analyst Sandeep Shastri, vice president of Karnataka-based deemed university Nitte. Yadunath Deshpande, now a senior consultant with the Ministry of Education, has a longstanding organisational background in the ABVP. The organisation’s own records identify him as its joint state organising secretary for Maharashtra in the past. He subsequently served as an organising secretary in the ABVP’s Mumbai-Konkan structure. Shukla has also undertaken research centred on cultural and spiritual nationalism. The team also comprises Prakash Kandpal from JNU, Needhi Gupta from National Law University, Chetan Singhai from Chanakya University, Sukanshika Vatsa from Delhi University, Satish Kumar from IGNOU , Deevanshu Shrivastava from National University of Study and Research in Law, Pranav Gupta from Jindal Global Law School, Nanda Kishor from Pondicherry University and Swapna Prabhu from Utkal University.
In 2021, Devendra Fadnavis had become its president.
He is the principal investigator of an ICSSR-funded JNU project titled “The Role of Fests in Shaping of Spiritual and Cultural Nationalism of Bharat: A Study of Kumbha and Magh Mela”.
Other members include NCERT’s Savita Sagar, M N Suresh Kumar from Bengaluru- based Government First Grade College, Diana Isabel from Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation School, N. Bharani from SHVNM Government PU College for Girls.
The team will seek guidance from the curricular area group on social science, languages, Indian knowledge systems, environmental education, innovative pedagogy and teaching-learning material, according to an NCERT notification. “Review of each of the textbooks will take place to oversee the integration of cross-cutting themes, such as cultural rootedness, Indian knowledge systems, inclusion, educational technology, assessment, etc,” the notification issued by NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani said.
