States can give nod to teach Bhagawad Geeta to school students if needed : Central Government

Editorial Comments

• Even now, the Government has not made it mandatory for all the States to include Bhagawad Geeta in the curriculums at various levels !
• If Bhagawad Geeta would have been included in the school curriculum from the Independence time itself, the Nation would not have reached depths of despair !

State Governments can give approval to teach Bhagawad Geeta in schools if needed, said Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi in response to a question asked in the Lok Sabha.

The Constitution of India has kept Education on the Concurrent list. Thus, while mentioning that under the new education policy, regional languages have been made compulsory, Annapurna Devi added, “If the States want, they can add Bhagawad Geeta in the curriculum”.

During the question hour in the Lok Sabha, the Minister mentioned that Bhagawad Geeta is already taught in some classes as per the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum.

While replying to a written question asked in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan said that Bhagawad Geeta has also been introduced under the Yoga subject in the UGC NET Exam. The Minister for Education added, “The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has introduced a course on Indian Traditional Knowledge System in 2018 in the model curriculum of UG Engineering courses, which has taken some aspect of Shrimad Bhagawad Geeta”.

With regards to teaching Bhojpuri in schools, Annapurna Devi said that if States want, they can teach Bhojpuri to students from classes 1 to 12. Adding to this, Dharmendra Pradhan said, “As per information received from Bihar, Bhojpuri has not been discontinued from the school curriculum. As per the Bihar State Curriculum 2008, textbooks for classes 1 to 12 in Bhojpuri have been developed and uploaded on DIKSHA platform. Further, the State Government has the policy of promoting regional languages for primary education”.