Union Minister Giriraj Singh blamed colonialism for ruining India's traditional learning system. (File)
India lost its edge in education due to the introduction of western education by British colonialists, especially Lord Thomas Macaulay -- governor-general from 1832-1835 - said Union Minister Giriraj Singh today.
Mr Singh, who was speaking on the launch of a range of medicines based on traditional Indian system of Ayurveda, said that the colonialism caused incalculable harm to Indian culture, and India continued to pay the price.
Pointing to Ayurveda he said that had India focused on reviving traditional system of medicines then the cures of several diseases could have been already found. Instead healthcare had become a business today.
"After independence, education was our USP across the world. But Macaulay's education system destroyed it and we are suffering the consequences even today. Our culture was destroyed through language," he said.
"If Ayurveda was taught after independence, then all medicines could be extracted from plants. But healthcare has been commercialized and unfortunately it has become a business," Mr Singh added.
Thomas Macaulay - as India's governor-general - had infamously argued against traditional Indian learning and criticized it for being inferior to western education. In his 'Minute Upon Indian Education' he outlined what later became the framework of British education in India.