Opposition accuses Govt. of saffronising education

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 2. The Opposition in the Lok Sabha today accused the Vajpayee Government of ``saffronising'' education and pushing its ``Hindutva'' agenda even as the Human Resource Development Minister, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, denied the charge, saying there was no political motivation behind the proposed review of school curriculum.

He also defended the restructuring of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and the decision to suspend publication of the ``Towards Freedom'' volumes of Prof. Sumit Sarkar and Prof. K.N. Panikkar. All appointments in the ICHR, he claimed, were made on merit. As far as the two volumes were concerned, they had been recalled for review because of factual distortions arising from ideological bias.

Earlier, the Opposition charged the Government with interfering in autonomous educational institutions and tinkering with school curriculum in the name of updating it. There was a demand for setting up a committee to examine the new curriculum proposed. The debate on demands for grants under the HRD Ministry was marked by sharp exchanges with the BJP accusing the Left of putting its ideological commitment above national interests.

Initiating the debate, Mr. Ramesh Chennitala (Congress-I) alleged that the BJP-led Government was trying to subvert the Nehru- Gandhi legacy and institutions such as the ICHR were on the verge of collapse because of constant political interference. Appointments to key positions were being made for political reasons, he said, referring to the nomination of some well-known pro-BJP academics to the ICHR.

Mr. Chennitala suggested a national debate on the new school curriculum, saying there was more to it than met the eye; a charge which Dr. Joshi later denied, saying all that was being sought to be done was to ``upgrade'' the curriculum and ``modernise'' it.

Another Congress(I) member, Mr. P.K. Bansal, charged that the Government was trying to promote the ``RSS-BJP agenda'' and ``subvert'' the country's secular education system. He alleged attempts to ``brainwash'' young minds and cautioned that this did not ``augur'' well for the country. Others who spoke along similar lines included Mr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) and Mr. Rashid Alvi (BSP).

From the BJP, Mr. Prakash Mani attacked the Left, saying Communists had always tried to ``denigrate'' nationalism and did not join the Quit India Movement. In 1962, they had refused to call China an aggressor because of their ideological ties with that country. He defended the Government's decision on the Sarkar-Panikkar volumes, terming them factually distorted.

Members also expressed concern over the state of education with the CPI(M) member, Mr. Samik Lahiri, describing the education budget as a ``farce''. Mr. Ramji Lal Suman (Samajwadi Party) pointed out that many schools lacked even basic amenities and did not have enough teachers.

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