Opposition Slams Government Over RSS-Linked Members in NCERT Textbook Panel

Opposition parties on Thursday accused the central government of trying to influence India's school curriculum after the National Council of Educational Research and Training reconstituted the team responsible for developing new political science textbooks for Classes 11 and 12, with critics flagging the inclusion of members allegedly linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

What Changed

NCERT notified a new 20-member Textbook Development Team on August 14 tasked with rewriting political science textbooks for the senior secondary classes. According to reports, the panel's stated mandate includes weaving in themes such as "cultural rootedness," Indian Knowledge Systems, equity and inclusion, value education and educational technology into the new curriculum.

Reports examining the composition of the panel found that at least four of its members have documented associations with the RSS, its student wing the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, or other organisations affiliated with the Sangh Parivar. That detail became the flashpoint for the opposition's criticism on Thursday.

Opposition Pushes Back

RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha was among the most vocal critics, questioning why individuals and organisations he described as trained in Nagpur — a reference to the RSS's headquarters — were being brought into the process of shaping educational material for millions of students. Jha argued that the move reflected the government's own interests rather than academic considerations, and said it risked undermining the country's education system.

Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said he was not surprised by the development, framing it as part of a broader pattern in which he alleged the RSS and BJP have sought to extend their influence over public institutions across the country. Other opposition voices echoed the charge that the reconstitution amounted to inserting an ideological agenda into textbooks that will shape how young Indians learn about their own political system.

Government's Defence

BJP leader T.R. Sriniwas rejected the opposition's framing, countering that previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance governments had themselves stacked educational institutions and textbook committees with academics sympathetic to left-leaning viewpoints for decades. In this telling, the current changes are a correction of an earlier imbalance rather than a new politicisation of curriculum development.

Why It Matters

Political science textbooks for Classes 11 and 12 shape how Indian students encounter core concepts of the country's constitutional structure, its political history and contemporary governance debates just as they approach voting age. Disputes over the composition of NCERT panels and the content of textbooks have recurred periodically in India, with successive governments accused by opponents of tilting curricula toward their own ideological preferences.

The row over the political science panel follows earlier controversy this year involving a separate NCERT curriculum panel that was reconstituted after the Supreme Court raised concerns about content in a Class 8 textbook, underscoring how curriculum development has become a recurring flashpoint between the government and its critics. With the reconstituted team now formally notified, the debate over its composition is likely to continue as the panel begins its work on the new textbooks.

This article is an original editorial summary based on publicly reported information. It has been independently written for publication and does not reproduce content from any single source.