RSS push for NEP with saffron touch

New Delhi: India’s education system is all set to get a final saffron touch with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, a bit charged up after the abrogation of Article 370, now zeroing in on the new National Education Policy. Hindi, besides other regioal languages, are likely to get a push, besides the inclusion of spirituality and Vedic maths, among other “swadeshi” subjects.

The RSS and its affiliates are keeping up the pressure on the BJP-led government for the finalisation of the NEP soon. It is understood that the ideological parent of the BJP and its affiliates has ever since the reelection of the Narendra Modi government held at least three extensive consultations with the human resources development ministry over the finalisation of the draft NEP at the earliest.

The consultations have taken place under the aegis of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad on June 26, the Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal on July 27 and a two-day event by the Shiksha Sanskriti Uthhan Nyas addressed by RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat on August 17-18 in New Delhi.

The RSS has always maintained that introducing a NEP was one of its priority areas since the Narendra Modi government was first elected in 2014. Almost four years were lost due to the exhaustive consultations that took place to finalise a draft NEP. Since its re-election, the Sangh and its affiliates seem to be building up pressure on the HRD ministry to finalise the NEP soon.

Among various suggestions made by the Sangh affiliates is the introduction of Vedic maths, discussions and research on the Indian knowledge system, use of Indian languages in teaching and promotion of research in Indian history. They have also sought a complete overhaul of regulatory bodies like the Medical Council of India, the Bar Council of India and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, alleging that they have become a “hub of the education business and related corruption”.

Earlier a committee, headed by former Isro chief K. Kasturirangan, was set up by the HRD ministry in June 2016, which submitted a draft NEP to the HRD ministry soon after the NDA government was sworn in after the Lok Sabha polls this year. In the past several months, the committee held nationwide consultations with several stakeholders, including members of Parliament, students at various educational institutes, academia and even the Sangh affiliates. Interestingly, a similar draft report prepared by the T.S.R. Subramanian panel, convened in the tenure of former HRD minister Smriti Irani, on the NEP is now effectively considered to be in cold storage.