New Delhi, December 06, 2023.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) does not differentiate between India and Bharat, and duly acknowledges the spirit as enshrined in the Constitution that recognises both, according to the Union Education Ministry.
This information was shared by Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi in a written reply to a question asked by CPI(M) member Elamaram Kareem in the Rajya Sabha regarding an NCERT panel’s recommendation to replace the country’s name “India” with “Bharat” in school textbooks.
“Article 1 of the Constitution of India states that ‘India’, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States’. India’s Constitution recognises both ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’ as the official names of the country which can be used interchangeably. NCERT duly acknowledges this spirit as enshrined in our Constitution and does not differentiate between the two,” she said.