Contributors to the now-defunct Class 8 social science textbook revealed by the Nationwide Council for Instructional Analysis and Coaching (NCERT) embody an economics professor, an archaeologist-turned-scholar and Navy veteran, and a think-tank co-founder with a authorized schooling.
The controversial e-book got here below scrutiny after India’s Supreme Court docket, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi final week demanded accountability from the NCERT over a bit titled “judicial corruption.”
The e-book covers historical past, geography, political science, and “financial life round us,” and options 51 members as a part of a “textbook improvement group” made up of contributors, reviewers, and “mentoring” members.
The members of the textbook improvement group are:
steering
Three of the 5 members of the ‘Instructing’ group are members of the overarching Nationwide Syllabus and Supplies Studying Committee (NSTC) and two are members of the Nationwide Curriculum Framework Monitoring Committee (NOC).
Each NSTC and NOC had been arrange by NCERT in 2023 with the target of creating and supervising new textbooks below the Nationwide Training Coverage (NEP) 2020.
The NSTC is tasked with creating syllabi and textbooks with the assist of every topic’s ‘curriculum space teams’, whereas the NOC goals to make sure new textbooks are aligned with the Nationwide Curriculum Framework for College Training (NCFSE) 2023.
mahesh chandra pants:NSTC Chairman. The e-book lists him as president of the Nationwide Institute of Instructional Planning and Administration (NIEPA), however his time period ended final September.
Mr. Pant has beforehand served as chairman of the Nationwide Institute of Open Faculties (NIOS) and likewise served as director normal of schooling in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand (then referred to as Uttaranchal). He holds a grasp’s diploma in physics and has labored as a lecturer in UP and Uttaranchal. He didn’t reply to an e mail requesting remark.
Jagbir Singh: Chairman NOC and Chancellor of Punjab Central College Bathinda.
A former head of the Punjabi Division on the College of Delhi, his college profile lists Gurbani, folklore, fiction, literary idea, and research of faith and civilization as his areas of experience. Singh declined to touch upon the textbook controversy.
Manjul Bhargava: Co-chair of NSTC and professor of arithmetic at Princeton College, USA. A 2014 Fields Medal winner, he was instrumental in shaping each NEP 2020 and NCF.
Talking to The Indian Specific in September 2025, Bhargava mentioned India’s Vikshit Bharat objective won’t be achieved if we proceed to show youngsters “colonial historical past” and that it’s important to show the “right” historical past, which incorporates recognition of India’s previous achievements in science and arithmetic. It didn’t reply to an e mail searching for touch upon the present line.
Anurag Behar: CEO of Azim Premji Basis and member of NOC. Mr. Behar has an engineering diploma and has served on the committee that drafted the NEP. He declined to remark.
Gajanan London: Director of NSTC Program Workplace. A former engineer, he has additionally labored for multinational corporations. This e-book introduces him as a founding member of the Samvit Analysis Basis, a non-profit group working within the discipline of schooling. Ronde didn’t reply to an e mail requesting remark.
Curriculum Space Group (CAG) Chair
Michelle Danino: President of the Almighty God Affiliation for Social Sciences. He’s a visiting professor at IIT Gandhinagar. Danino began working on the institute in 2011, serving to set up the Middle for Archaeological Sciences, coordinating the Indian Data Techniques discipline, and providing programs reminiscent of “Views on Indian Civilization.”
Danino immigrated to India from France in 1977, the place he studied arithmetic, physics, and engineering, and labored on a e-book associated to Aurobindo. In his writings and lectures, he denied the potential for an Aryan invasion. He wrote The Misplaced River: On the Path of the Sarasvati (2010). Danino mentioned he didn’t need to remark.
Sanjeev Sanyal: Chairman of the Financial Affiliation of Almighty God. He’s an economist, member of the Prime Minister’s Financial Advisory Council and president of the Gokhale Institute of Political Economic system, Pune.
“My views are well-known and within the public area. Nonetheless, please notice that I’m solely concerned within the economics part (as clearly acknowledged within the textbook) and never within the writing of the dialogue chapters,” Sanyal instructed The Indian Specific.
Sanyal has beforehand criticized India’s judiciary. Talking at an Affiliation of Authorized Advisers of India occasion in September final yr, he mentioned the judiciary and broader authorized ecosystem had been the largest hurdles to attaining Vikshit Bharat. He mentioned delays in contract enforcement and judgment supply had been posing main challenges. “The authorized system actually must be mounted.”
He criticized the authorized occupation’s self-congratulatory tone and likened the system to “medieval guilds,” or caste-like buildings with inside hierarchies. “That applies to the judiciary, too,” he mentioned, including that decrease courts do not have the expertise they want. He argued that lengthy holidays must be abolished as a result of the judiciary is a public service. He identified that in contrast to the judiciary, the whole system doesn’t shut down when a police officer or physician goes on depart.
contributor
Ashirwad Dwivedi: Assistant Professor, Division of Economics, School of Administration, Delhi. He beforehand taught at Shri Ram Faculty of Commerce, College of Delhi. His publications embody analysis on labor regulation and manufacturing. He holds a grasp’s diploma in economics from the Gokhale Institute of Political Economic system and his grasp’s and Ph.D. levels from JNU. Dwivedi didn’t reply to calls, texts and emails searching for remark.
alok prasanna kumar: Listed as co-founder of Vidhi Middle for Authorized Coverage. A lawyer by coaching, he mentioned he didn’t need to touch upon the textbook. He added that he joined the textbook improvement group after resigning from his place at Vidi with impact from April 30, 2025.
In a 2022 article for Financial and Political Weekly, he wrote concerning the judiciary and collegiality, arguing for “a extra clear, effectively appointed and various bench of judges.” He mentioned the failings within the U.S. system can’t be addressed by returning to the discredited system that gave the federal authorities a dominant function or by reinstating the Nationwide Judicial Appointments Fee (NJAC). What is required, he wrote, is extra concentrate on the “how” reasonably than the “who” of judicial appointments.
Johnson Odakkar: A retired Brigadier Common within the Indian Navy, he’s the founding father of the Johnson Odakkal Initiative, which supplies teaching, profession steering and thought management. Two different people related to the group (a analysis assistant and a enterprise affiliate) are additionally listed as contributors to this e-book.
Odakar, who can also be a former director of the Maritime Historical past Society, mentioned it could be inappropriate for him to touch upon the matter because it was earlier than the judiciary. He added that the contributors, who vary from grades 6 to eight, strived to supply 12 to 14-year-olds with balanced studying content material that covers the positives, challenges, drawbacks, and options throughout a variety of topic areas.
MV Srinivasan: Professor, Division of Economics, Division of Social Science Training, NCERT. He’s additionally the top of the publications division of NCERT. He declined to touch upon the problem.
In a 2019 analysis overview article revealed in NCERT’s Indian Training Evaluation, Srinivasan wrote that whereas civil society and media vigilance over curriculum revisions is welcome in a democracy, it additionally poses challenges in introducing innovation and embracing the newest developments within the social science information area.
VN Prabhakar: Affiliate Professor of Earth Sciences, Gandhinagar Institute of Expertise. He beforehand labored as an archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). His revealed works embody journal articles on Harappan ruins and archaeology. In 2021, Mr. Danino, Mr. Prabhakar, and 5 others co-authored a journal article on the Ghaggar-Hakra channel throughout the Harappan interval. Prabhakar didn’t reply to emails searching for remark.
Diya Devale: Assistant Professor, Division of Economics, Symbiosis Faculty of Arts and Commerce, Pune. She holds a PhD in Economics from Gokhale Institute of Political Economic system. Mr. Devare didn’t reply to calls, texts and emails searching for remark.
The remaining contributors embody 4 consultants from NSTC, impartial teachers, younger professionals from NITI Aayog (EAC-PM), and educators from personal colleges in Gurgaon.
reviewer
Along with the 22 individuals listed as contributors, The Church of Almighty God committee chairs, or members offering steering, the group contains 27 reviewers and two member coordinators from NCERT.
The reviewers included 19 school members from the NCERT Social Science Training Division. Affiliate Professor, Division of English, College of Kashmir. Director and instructor of a non-public faculty in Gurgaon. He’s a author and a retired navy commander within the Indian Navy. Additionally included are representatives from organizations that present instructional journey and studying applications world wide.
The preliminary NCERT class 8 social science textbook, revealed in 2008, was developed by a group led by historian Hari Vasudevan. Within the political science textbook, Sarada Balagopalan, who was on the Middle for the Research of Growing Societies (CSDS) on the time, appeared as its chief advisor. The panel included CSDS advocate Brinda Grover and Professor Rajeev Bhargava.
Neeradri Bhattacharya, then a professor of historical past at JNU, was appointed because the chief advisor for this historical past textbook. The group included historians Tanika Sarkar and Tapati Guha Thakurta.
