NCERT has formed a new 20-member team to draft Class 11 and 12 Political Science textbooks, led by political scientist Dr Sandeep Shastri. The panel has been instructed to emphasise cultural rootedness and the Indian knowledge system, with deadlines set for November 2026 and July 2027. Concerns arise as four members are linked to RSS-affiliated bodies, ABVP and the BJP, raising questions over ideological balance.
A NEW TEAM has been created by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to create textbooks for Classes 11 and 12. The textbook development team will create the Political Science textbooks for both classes and has been asked to include the themes of cultural rootedness and the Indian knowledge system in the revised textbooks. The panel has been asked to submit the Class 11 textbook by November 2026 and the Class 12 textbook by July 2027.
The textbook development team will be headed by political scientist Dr. Sandeep Shastri, who is Vice President (Bangalore) of Nitte Education Trust and the Nitte campus of Nitte (Deemed to be University). The team has drawn attention as, according to a PTI report, four of its 20 members are directly or indirectly associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated organizations, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and the BJP.
The four members who have links with ABVP and RSS-affiliated organizations include Yadunath Deshpande, who has a longstanding background with ABVP. The second member is Prashant Dibekar, who has worked with Jnana Prabodhini, an RSS-affiliated organization. The third member is Vandana Mishra, a former national secretary of ABVP, and the fourth is Ravi Rameshchandra Shukla, who was also linked to an RSS-affiliated publication.
The background of these members has drawn attention to the new team, with many questioning how this will affect the ideological balance of the textbooks.
The first is Yadunath Deshpande, who is a senior consultant to the Ministry of Education. He has an organizational background with ABVP, including serving as its state organising secretary in Maharashtra. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is also a BJP political consultant.
Prashant Dibekar, in his profile on the National Council for Teacher Education website, has described his approach as “Rooted in Bhartiya educational philosophy, I foster creativity, critical thinking, and holistic student development through meaningful innovative practices to nurture resolute mindsets.” He has been associated with Jnana Prabodhini, where he mentions that he has specialised in teacher training and curriculum development. Jnana Prabodhini is an institution founded by Vinayak Vishwanath, who was an RSS member and pracharak.
The third panel member is Vandana Mishra, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Vandana was formerly associated with the RSS-affiliated ABVP as its national secretary. Another member of the panel is Ravi Rameshchandra Shukla, an associate professor at JNU. His academic work includes research on culture and spiritual nationalism. Shukla has been a member of the editorial board of the Indian Journal of Democratic Governance (IJDG). The journal was published by the RSS-affiliated Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership-Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini.
The other members of the team include academics from JNU, Delhi University, IGNOU, National Law Universities, NCERT officials, and other educational institutions. The team includes Prakash Kandpal, a professor at JNU’s Centre for the Study of Law and Governance; Needhi Gupta, an associate professor at National Law University; Chetan Singhai from Chanakya University; Sukanshika Vatsa from Delhi University; and Satish Kumar from IGNOU.
Some other members include Deevanshu Shrivastava from the National University of Study and Research in Law, Pranav Gupta from Jindal Global Law School, Nanda Kishor from Pondicherry University, Swapna Prabhu from Utkal University, Savita Sagar from NCERT, M.N. Suresh from the Department of Political Science at Bangalore’s Government First Grade College, Diana Isabel from a municipal corporation school in Navi Mumbai, and N. Bharani from SHVNM Government PU College for Girls.
Apart from the team members, NCERT’s Vanthangpui Khobung will be the coordinator, while Subhash Singh will be the co-coordinator. According to the PTI report, the information was based on an NCERT notification issued by NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani. The notification further said that the team will consult various curricular groups to ensure that all necessary cross-cutting themes are integrated.
(Edited by Harsh Pandey)
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