NCERT Reconstitutes Political Science Textbook Team Amid Controversy Over RSS Links

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has reconstituted the textbook development team for Class 11 and 12 political science. The team is tasked with developing the Class 11 textbook by November and the Class 12 book by July 2027. The mandate for the new materials includes the integration of cultural rootedness, Indian Knowledge Systems, equity, inclusion, and value education. The team is led by Sandeep Shastri, vice president of Nitte university.

At least four members of the team have documented direct or indirect links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), its student affiliate Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), or other Sangh affiliated organizations. These members include Yadunath Deshpande, a senior consultant with the Ministry of Education and former ABVP joint state organising secretary for Maharashtra; Vandana Mishra, a JNU professor and former national secretary of the ABVP; Prashant Divekar, who is associated with the RSS affiliated Jnana Prabodhini; and Ravi Rameshchandra Shukla, a JNU associate professor who served on the editorial board of a journal published by the RSS affiliated Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini. The team also includes academics from various institutions including Delhi University, IGNOU, and several national law universities.

Opposition parties and student organizations have criticized the appointment of these members. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the NCERT of carrying out the sanghikaran of textbooks, while the All India Students Association described the panel as a backdoor entry for BJP and RSS propaganda. Other critics, including Rajya Sabha members Syed Naseer Hussain and Manoj Jha, raised concerns regarding the political independence of the textbook development process.

Reporting on the event differs based on political lean. Center left sources frame the story as an ideological imposition by the government to push an RSS agenda on school education. In contrast, center right coverage focuses on the administrative reconstitution of the team and the specific curricular goals of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023.