Siddaramaiah urges CM Bommai to stop printing textbooks with RSS founder Hedgewar's speech
Bengaluru, May 18: Following the controversy over inclusion of RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar's speech in school textbooks, senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday urged Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to immediately stop the printing of the textbooks and to take decision in this regard after discussions with intellectuals and educational experts.
According to official sources, the speech by Hedgewar was included as chapter in the revised Kannada textbook for students of class X.
"If the media reports are true about the revised curriculum, then the issue is very serious. In order to avoid speculation and conflicts about the issue, @CMofKarnataka @BSBommai should give clarifications," Siddaramaiah tweeted.
He said when there are many renowned authors, writers, intellectuals and education experts in Karnataka, the BJP government in the State has chosen to insult the people there by delegating the work to an inexperienced youth from RSS.
"The government should withdraw the draft submitted by the current textbook revision committee and dissolve the committee. Appoint a new committee comprising education experts, intellectuals and eminent writers of Kannada," he added.
The Karnataka Textbook Society has said a committee headed by Rohith Chakrathirtha was constituted to examine social science and language textbooks and to revise them, and it has revised social science textbooks from classes 6 to 10 and Kannada language textbooks from classes 1 to 10.
Alleging that BJP has already destroyed the sanctity of the religion for political reasons, Siddaramaiah said, "Now, they are trying to politicise learning space to spoil the minds of innocent children for political gains. This is unfortunate and people should oppose this."
"Let BJP use Hedgewar, Golwalkar and Godse in their political rallies and ask votes by showing their portraits. People will evaluate what is right or wrong, and decide. But do not politicise education for selfish reasons," he added.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh on Monday defended inclusion of a speech by Hedgewar in the Kannada textbook.
He had said the textbook does not contain anything about Hedgewar or RSS, but only his speech on what should be an inspiration to people, especially the youth, and added that those who have raised objections have not gone through the textbook.
Amid allegations in some quarters that a lesson on freedom fighter Bhagat Singh was omitted, the Textbook Society on Tuesday had clarified that the chapter has not been removed, and the Kannada textbook of Class 10 is currently at the printing stage.
I urge @CMofKarnataka @BSBommai to immediately stop the printing of revised textbooks, and to take the decision after discussions with intellectuals, education experts & writers.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 18, 2022
BJP had already destroyed the sanctity of the religion for political reasons. Now they are trying to politicise learning space to spoil the minds of innocent Children for their political gains. This is unfortunate & people should oppose this.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 18, 2022
Let BJP use Hegdewar, Golwalkar & Godse in their political rallies & ask votes by showing their portraits. People will evaluate what is right or wrong, and decide. But do not politicise education for selfish reasons.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 18, 2022
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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