The Congress has been protesting in Rajasthan against the removal of India's first Prime Minister - Jawaharlal Nehru's references from a school text books. (File Photo of Jawaharlal Nehru)
Highlights
- Minister rejects allegations references to Nehru removed from textbooks
- Do not favour politics in education, says Rajasthan's Education Minister
- Earlier, Congress led a protest against the Vasundhara Raje government
Rejecting allegations about the removal of references to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru from a Class VII textbook in Rajasthan, the state school education minister Vasudev Devnani said that the revised syllabus has Mr Nehru's name at 15 places in different textbooks.
"The government has not omitted Jawaharlal Nehru's name from textbooks. His name is there at 15 places in the revised books. The references to Mr Nehru are available in textbooks of Class 7 (Hindi), Class 9 (Social science) and Class 11 (World History)," Mr Devnani said in a statement.
"The state government does not favour politics in education," Rajasthan education minister Vasudev Devnani said.
He said Mr Nehru's role in the freedom movement, introducing Panchayati Raj system, and the non-aligned movement have been given space in the revised textbooks.
"The state government does not favour politics in education. Syllabus from class 1 to 8 is prepared by the State Institute of Education Research and Training (SIERT) and the Board of Secondary Education prepares the syllabus for classes 9 to 12.
Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee President Sachin Pilot addressing a protest rally against the removal of Jawaharlal Nehru's references from a school text books. (PTI Photo)
He also said if two or three chapters on Jawaharlal Nehru were not included in the syllabus, they would be added in the textbook in supplementary form.
Earlier in the Day, opposing the move to omit references to Mr Nehru from the textbook, the state unit of Congress held a demonstration in Jaipur with PCC chief Sachin Pilot saying that it reflected the "mental bankruptcy" of the Vasundhara Raje government.