NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani confirmed that NCERT textbooks will use “Bharat” and “India” interchangeably, aligning with the Indian Constitution. Saklani emphasized that the council has no preference for either term, stating that both will continue to be used in educational materials. This statement comes in light of a recent recommendation by a high-level panel to replace “India” with “Bharat” in school textbooks across all grades.
Saklani told PTI editors, “It is interchangeable….our position is what our Constitution says, and we uphold that. We can use Bharat, we can use India, what is the problem? We are not in that debate. Wherever it suits we will use India, wherever it suits we will use Bharat. We have no aversion to either India or Bharat.” He added that both terms are already in use in textbooks and will continue to be used in the new editions, dismissing the ongoing debate as “useless.”
Previously, a high-level NCERT committee recommended using “Bharat” instead of “India” in textbooks, along with replacing “ancient history” with “classical history” and incorporating the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) into the curriculum. Despite these recommendations, no official decision had been made. The debate gained momentum when the government issued G20 invitations under the title “President of Bharat” and during the New Delhi summit, Prime Minister Modi’s nameplate read “Bharat” instead of “India.”
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