New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is set to drop three chapters from its Class IX history textbook as a part of the second textbook review undertaken by the current government.
According to a report in the Indian Express, the revised edition, which will not include almost 70 pages from the textbook titled India and the Contemporary World – I, will come into effect before the new academic session commences.
The three chapters eliminated from the history textbook include “Clothing: A Social History” which detailed the influence of social movements on clothing and a section on ‘Caste Conflict and Dress Change’. Several objections were raised with reference to the “Upper Cloth Revolt” in south India, during which ‘lower’ caste Nadar women were attacked by Nairs in Travancore for defying the dictum of not covering their upper bodies before the dominant castes. The chapter states that “over subsequent decades, a violent conflict over dress codes ensued”.
Previously, the Central Board of Secondary Education had issued a circular informing affiliated schools that the section on ‘Caste Conflict and Dress Change’ would be “omitted from the curriculum” and students would not be questioned on its contents.
Another chapter detailing the impact of colonialism and capitalism on rural communities and peasants titled ‘Peasants and Farmers’ will also be dropped from the revised edition.