Jaipur: School students in Rajasthan will no longer study two-part supplementary textbooks with state Education Minister Madan Dilawar arguing that these reading materials are not required because they glorify the Nehru-Gandhi family and carry no marks for students.
The Congress has attacked the minister over the decision, saying that the government can remove textbooks from the syllabus but cannot change people’s minds. The party leaders dubbed the decision ‘ridiculous’.
Minister Dilawar said that the books ‘Azadi ke Baad ka Swarnim Bharat’ Part-1 and Part-2 carry no marks and, therefore, he directed the officials of the department to discontinue teaching these books.
“These books, which the previous Congress government introduced, do not carry any marks for the exams. They were only meant for reading. Without any academic weight, there was no point in continuing them so I have directed that the Education Department will not teach such books,” Dilawar said.
Stressing that positive things should be taught, he said that the contributions of those who served the country and the state should be equally mentioned but those Congress leaders who imposed the Emergency and killed democracy have been glorified in these textbooks.
“The books only glorified Congress leaders, specifically the Gandhi family. Key figures such as Lal Bahadur Shastri, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr Ambedkar and even Congress leader Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who later founded the Bharatiya Janata Sangh, were ignored. The textbooks failed to highlight their contributions while extensively promoting the Gandhi family,” he said on Thursday.
The book talks about the freedom movement, the role of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and others. The book also focuses on the contributions of former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
The preface of the book has references to Nehru.
“Jawaharlal Nehru was the architect of modern India. He was a great democrat. Nehru’s concept of democracy was very dynamic and broad. He considered democracy to be constantly evolving and dynamic. Pt. Nehru had great faith in parliamentary democracy. For him, democracy is a way of life and a way of thinking. The democratic values propounded by Nehru can be seen in the preamble of the Indian Constitution,” it said.
The books mention various programmes and achievements such as Right to Education and Right to Information among others of the former UPA governments headed by Manmohan Singh.
The minister said that talking extensively about certain leaders was glorification and insisted that the book should also have details of the contributions of other leaders. Since it was last revised in 2019, the book also has references to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, demonetisation and GST implementation.
In the topic related to demonetisation, the book says, “While announcing demonetisation, Narendra Modi included the benefits of demonetisation from curbing black money to extremism and terrorism. In the initial days of demonetisation, the common people had to face many difficulties. They had to stand in long queues at banks to exchange their currency.”
Inside the book, there are pictures, including one showing former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot distributing Aadhar cards.
The cover page of Part-1 has a set of four pictures, including one showing Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi while the cover page of Part-2 also has four pictures, including one each of Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi.
The minister said that instructions have been given to the Education Department officials to discontinue the books because the textbooks carry no marks.
On the expenditure incurred on publishing the books, he said that if poison has been bought by mistake, it does not mean it has to be consumed.
“Education should focus on positive content and the Education Department will not promote biased materials,” he said.
The minister went on to target former prime minister Indira Gandhi, saying that the country was put under a state of emergency for political gains and people were jailed.
“The Congress people gave the slogan ‘Indira is India, India is Indira’. They ignored the contribution of other leaders,” Dilawar said.
Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that the government’s decision was ridiculous.
“It is a fact that after Independence, most of the governments were of Congress and the credit for taking this country to historical heights will go to Congress governments and prime ministers. The BJP government cannot hide this truth,” Gehlot posted on X.
He said that in the Congress rule, scientists also made Chandrayaan and engineers built big factories, dams and institutions.
“Our great leaders Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi even sacrificed their lives for this country. Can the BJP government change these facts?” he asked.
Gehlot suggested that if the BJP government wants to teach about the NDA rule, then instead of wasting books worth Rs 2.50 crore, it is better to print extra pages on the NDA rule and send them to schools, telling about their contribution.
“But how can it be justified to waste public money by making the books useless?” he asked.
Former minister Pratap Singh Khachariawas said that the government can remove textbooks from the syllabus but it cannot change people’s minds.
“You can change the curriculum but you cannot change people’s minds. In the history of the country’s Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru has been in jail for years. People have seen the might of Indira Gandhi during the 1971 war when Bangladesh was created. Rajiv Gandhi gave the IT revolution,” he said.
Rajasthan Congress chief and former education minister Govind Singh Dotasra said that Dilawar has created unnecessary controversy.
“The books depict the contribution of great heroes in building a strong India,” he said.
