BENGALURU: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan on Friday reacted to reports of the Congress government planning to drop the chapter on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar from the Class 10 textbook and said that these kinds of hasty decisions are not appreciated.
“These kinds of hasty decisions are not appreciated. Dr Hedgewar is a founder of national cultural building, nationalism…He was a medical practitioner with a good background”. the former state minister said.
A political slugfest has arisen following the Congress government’s proposal to revise school textbooks this year. “We should not ignore and disrespect such a towering personality. We should have the courtesy to respect him”, Ashwath Narayan said.
He further spoke on the state government’s proposal to revise school textbooks this year and said they should not hurry and should constitute a committee. “They (Karnataka Government) should not be in a hurry, they should take their time. They should constitute a committee to look into it”, the former minister said.
“As a popular government, they should address the concerns of all sections of society. The government has to be inclusive and respect the sentiments of all communities and all people…I humbly call upon them, don’t be in a hurry to do things”, he added.
On Thursday, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said that school textbooks in the state will be revised this year itself. He said experts will revise textbooks this year to keep in check what should be there in the books and what not. A decision will be taken in the next cabinet meeting.
Initially, the minister said there will be a Setu Bandha (bridge) project which will help in teaching lessons that the students have missed due to not attending physical classes. “The experts will also decide what should be there in a textbook and what should be removed. Moreover, there has been additional revision in the past as well,” Bangarappa said.
“We had said in the manifesto that we will revise the textbook and we will do it”, he added. The minister further said that the actions will be taken in the interest of the children. The Chief Minister himself has taken special care in this matter and said that it is a matter of happiness, he said. (ANI)