NCERT to feature 'Bharat' alongside 'India' in new textbooks, dismisses debate

New Delhi: According to Dinesh Prasad Saklani, Director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the terms "Bharat" and "India" will be used interchangeably in NCERT textbooks, just as they are in the nation's Constitution.

A high-level committee for social sciences, established by the NCERT to revise the school curriculum, recommended last year that "India" should be replaced with "Bharat" in the textbooks for all classes.

"It is interchangeable... our position is aligned with our Constitution and we uphold that. We can use Bharat, we can use India, what is the issue? We are not engaged in that debate. Wherever it is appropriate, we will use India; wherever it is appropriate, we will use Bharat. We have no aversion to either India or Bharat," he said.

"You can see both being used in our textbooks already and that will continue in new textbooks. This debate is pointless," Saklani said.

Committee chairperson C I Isaac, who led the panel, had stated that they proposed substituting "India" with "Bharat" in the textbooks, introducing "classical history" instead of "ancient history" in the curriculum, and incorporating the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) into the syllabus for all subjects.

"The committee unanimously recommended the use of 'Bharat' in textbooks across all classes. Bharat is an ancient name, mentioned in texts such as the Vishnu Purana, dating back 7,000 years," Isaac said.

The NCERT clarified that no decision had been made on the panel's recommendations.

The name "Bharat" was officially used for the first time last year, when the government sent out G20 invites in the name of the "President of Bharat" rather than the "President of India".

Subsequently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nameplate during the summit in New Delhi also displayed "Bharat" instead of India.