Union Education Minister on India vs Bharat row in NCERT: There is no difference between the two

Delhi, New: Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan stated on Thursday that while there is no distinction between India and Bharat, some “frustrated people” are trying to stir up a rift over it. The minister’s remarks were made the day after recommendations made by a high-level committee established by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to substitute “Bharat” for “India” in all textbooks caused a political uproar. Opposition parties took offense, especially those from the southern states, who called the action a “political gimmick” and a “attempt to distort history.” This India vs Bharat row is going a long way with political heat turning up.

Education Minister addressed the India vs Bharat row

Speaking at the Vice Chancellors’ Conference on the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 implementation in Gujarat’s Narmada district, Pradhan stated that there has been a “prolonged debate over whether our nation should be referred to as India or Bharat.”

“But what is the difference? There is no difference between Bharat and India. Bharat is the name of this country. It was during the colonial period that the English-speaking people gave the country the name India,” he said. “Our Constitution have given significance to both Bharat and India.”

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Bharat is the original name…

The minister added: “Bharat is an Indian name; the original name since the beginning of the civilisation. However, these days, in the mind of a few frustrated people there is a competition going on to create a controversy around it.”

The suggested name change was one of the consensus suggestions made by the seven-member panel in its final position paper, according to CI Isaac, the chairwoman of NCERT’s social science panel, on Wednesday. Dinesh Saklani, the chairperson of NCERT, stressed that a decision regarding the panel’s recommendations has not yet been made.

“Response to the uproar on the recommendation of India to be mentioned as Bharat in textbooks… 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,” NCERT posted on X on Wednesday.