New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday strongly defended the National Council of Educational Research and Training’s (NCERT) landmark decision to introduce a dedicated section on the 1975–77 National Emergency in school textbooks. Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of an event in Chandigarh organized to mark the anniversary of the Emergency’s imposition on June 25, 1975, Pradhan asserted that the curriculum update is a vital educational step to ensure that future generations understand the severe challenges once faced by Indian democracy.
The historical topic has been integrated into Chapter 6 of the newly developed Class 9 Social Science textbook, titled Understanding Society: India and Beyond. The newly added text outlines the rising public dissatisfaction with the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government in the early 1970s due to inflation and unemployment, leading to the subsequent declaration of the National Emergency on grounds of internal disturbance. The chapter details the wholesale suspension of fundamental rights, structural press censorship, the arrest of opposition leaders, and the pivotal role played by socialist thinker Jayaprakash Narayan in mobilizing mass resistance before democratic processes were restored via the ballot box in 1977. Dismissing opposition criticism over the curriculum change, Pradhan stated that NCERT had done the right thing by bringing these historical events to the forefront so that such a constitutional crisis is never repeated.
Turning to current academic evaluations, the Education Minister provided an update on the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) re-examination conducted on June 21, declaring it an absolute success. He stated that despite coordinated attempts by certain factions to instil fear and uncertainty among aspirants following the cancellation of the initial May 3 test due to a paper leak, over 20 lakh candidates appeared for the exam with complete confidence, frustrating elements that sought to create an atmosphere of academic anarchy. However, Pradhan’s visit to Chandigarh faced immediate localized friction as workers from the Youth Congress and the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) staged aggressive demonstrations outside the venue, demanding his immediate resignation over recurring paper leak scandals before being contained by police barricades in Sector 18.
During the interaction, the Union Minister also waded into Punjab’s escalating political storm, demanding that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann step down immediately on moral grounds. Pradhan described the ongoing viral video controversy surrounding the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader as a deeply sensitive matter that transcends regular politics and directly affects the religious sentiments of the Sikh community. The controversy deepened further after the Gurugram Police recently arrested two individuals for allegedly fabricating a cyber-forensic report to shield the Chief Minister, while the Akal Takht—the highest temporal seat of Sikhism—has declared Mann “Guru Dokhi” for alleged sacrilegious conduct in the footage. Though Mann held a parallel press conference on Thursday asserting his innocence and claiming the video featured an impostor wearing a lifelike mask, Pradhan maintained that the nature of the allegations warrants an immediate exit from constitutional office.
