Peter Ronald DeSouza | 17 June 2023 | The Indian Express

It may seem like a trivial quarrel between some grumpy professors of Political Science and a recalcitrant NCERT. Ego versus ego. I wish it was so straightforward. We could then roll up our sleeves and sort it out. But, unfortunately, the issue is a lot more complicated. The professors write a letter saying they want their names withdrawn from the Textbook Development Committee (TDC). The NCERT says they cannot accept this request because NCERT possesses the copyright. The professors insist, arguing that possessing copyright does not entitle the NCERT to make substantial changes to scholarly texts. The NCERT demurs. They call it “rationalisation”. The chief advisors call it “mutilation”.

I asked for my name to be withdrawn from the TDC because I saw the NCERT’s behaviour, not just its obstinacy, as having serious implications for our working as a constitutional democracy. Such an attitude needed to be called out.

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