Step 1: Scrape clean

HRD Minister Arjun Singh’s panel of historians has advised the dumping of history books written for schoolchildren by ‘‘saffr...

HRD Minister Arjun Singh’s panel of historians has advised the dumping of history books written for schoolchildren by ‘‘saffron’’ historians during former minister Murli Manohar Joshi’s tenure. In their recommendation, they have mentioned that they would assemble again in the Capital on July 5 and 6 and hand over to the Government the list of recommended alternative textbooks from among those available in the market.

But what the panel has suggested is not a simple solution. Since no one publisher can provide the bulk of replacements that could be required, the historians — Professors S. Settar, J.S. Grewal and Barun De — are planning to suggest four books for each class from Std VI to XII. The books under consideration have been published by several institutional, NGOs and even private publishers.

‘‘This is a temporary solution for this year. For next year, there will a new set of books which would be ready,’’ Professor De said. Explained Professor Settar, ‘‘no one publisher can provide the required number of copies. Therefore, we would have to suggest four or five names in the list of reading material for each class.’’

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But would not the contents of each book vary? The historians said by mid-August, they would prepare a question bank so the students would know what is expected of them. When asked if it would not be too late for the students by the time the bank was ready, Professor De remarked: ‘‘There has been chaos for the past four-five years. This chaos would last only one more month.’’

The HRD Ministry, which got the recommendation this afternoon, did not react immediately. Said an official, ‘‘We would rather wait till they are ready with their final recommendation on July 6 and then respond.’’ There was no response from even HRD Minister Arjun Singh.

Professor De said he had definitely liked the Delhi SCERT Hindi books. Among other publications high on the priority list, he mentioned the name of Holy Faith. Even publications of Hoshangabad-based NGO Ekalavya is under consideration. For Class XII, books discarded by Joshi, including those by Bipan Chandra and Satish Chandra, could be brought back. Professor De said the books published after 2000 were being discarded because they were riddled with ‘‘factual errors’’ and also suffered from an intrinsic bias.

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