Prime Minister Narendra Modi which includes a section titled “Corruption in the Judiciary” – that has triggered strong criticism and a complete ban on its publication by the Supreme Court, sources said.
Expressing his anguish, Prime Minister Modi, in a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, directed Union Education Minister . Sources quoted the PM as saying that someone has to be held accountable for this.
Modi took up the issue in the cabinet meeting, the first to be held at Seva Teerth, the newly-constructed PMO. According to sources, the Prime Minister asked why Class 8 students were being taught such things and who was monitoring the content in textbooks.
Even as Pradhan tried to explain, Modi insisted that someone needs to be held accountable for what happened.
Sources in the government said the Prime Minister was unhappy and annoyed over the episode.
On Thursday, speaking to reporters in Jharkhand, the Education Minister said that he was “deeply saddened” by the episode. He said that when the matter was brought to his notice, he directed the NCERT to withdraw the book.
“We have utmost respect for the judiciary. What the judiciary has said – we will accept and comply with it. I am deeply saddened by what has happened, and I express my regret for it. When this matter was brought to my notice, I immediately directed NCERT to withdraw the books, so that they do not circulate (those) further,” the minister said.
“There was no intention to disrespect the judiciary… the government did not have any such intention. We are taking this seriously, and this will be inquired into. Action will be taken against those who were involved in preparing this chapter. We would like to assure the judiciary that this mistake won’t be repeated,” the minister added.
On February 25, The had reported that the new Social Science textbook for Class 8, released by the NCERT, includes a section titled “Corruption in the Judiciary”, as part of a chapter on “The Role of the Judiciary in our Society”. The chapter lists “corruption at various levels of the judiciary” and “massive backlog…” as among the “challenges” faced by the Indian judicial system.
BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra, while responding to a query on the NCERT issue during a press conference on Thursday, said, “There is no other institution – and this is not only in India – but in this whole world, as independent and as deserving as the Indian judiciary. We all have the sentiment of samman ka bhaav, maan ka bhaav aur swabhimaan ka bhaav (dignity, respect and self-respect) towards the Indian judiciary.”
