UGC’s draft maths curriculum faces opposition from academics, petition calls for withdrawal
New Delhi: The University Grants Commission’s (UGC) proposed undergraduate mathematics curriculum, which introduces traditional Indian concepts such as Bharatiya Bijganit (Indian algebra) and Kala Ganpana (traditional timekeeping), has sparked sharp criticism from the academic community.
According to a report published by Deccan Herald, more than 900 teachers, researchers, and scholars, including faculty members from the Indian Institute of Science, several IITs, Ashoka University, and other institutions—have signed a petition demanding the withdrawal of the draft.
In the petition, the signatories said they were “deeply concerned” about the draft framework, warning that it was “riddled with grave defects” and could “damage the prospects of generations of students” if implemented. They have urged the Centre to constitute a fresh panel of expert mathematicians and experienced undergraduate teachers to design a revised curriculum.
One of the primary objections raised is the alleged dilution of core mathematical concepts. The petition notes that algebra has been “short-changed,” with the draft failing to provide the minimum three courses required for a strong undergraduate foundation. Applied mathematics has also come under criticism, with the petition pointing out that programming and numerical methods have been excluded from the core, while statistics has been compressed into a single course.
The petition further highlights that courses involving statistics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and related fields usually include practical and application-based components, but such provisions are missing in the UGC’s draft. “The future of mathematics and indeed all scientific endeavour in the country is at stake,” the petition warns.
The UGC has not yet issued an official response to the objections raised.
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SIR in Gujarat: More than 17 lakh deceased voters found on electoral rolls
Ahmedabad (PTI): The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Gujarat has revealed that more than 17 lakh deceased voters were still included in the existing voter list across the state, a release by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has stated.
According to the release issued on Thursday, the SIR exercise started in Gujarat on November 4 with booth-level officers (BLOs) distributing enumeration forms in their designated areas.
The campaign will continue till December 11.
"In the last one month, enumeration forms have been distributed to more than five crore voters registered in the 2025 electoral roll. In most of the 33 districts, 100 per cent of the distribution has been completed. Work on digitising the returned forms is currently underway. So far, the digitisation work has been completed in 12 out of 182 assembly constituencies," it said.
These include Dhanera and Tharad of Banaskantha district, Limkheda and Dahod (ST) of Dahod district, Bayad of Aravalli district, Dhoraji, Jasdan and Gondal of Rajkot district, Keshod of Junagadh district, Mehmadabad of Kheda district, Khambhat of Anand district and Jalalpore of Navsari district.
Dang district is at the forefront in this work with 94.35 per cent digitisation of the counting forms, said the release.
"During this exercise, it was revealed that 17 lakh deceased voters were still included in the electoral roll across the state. More than 6.14 lakh voters were found absent from their addresses. It has been noticed that more than 30 lakh voters have permanently migrated," the release said.
BLOs found more than 3.25 lakh voters in the "repeated" category, which means that their names figured at more than one place, the release stated.
