Row over chapter on ‘corruption in judiciary’: NCERT affidavit on ‘high-powered’ panel lists late Bibek Debroy among 19 members

The fact that Debroy’s name still figures in the list indicates that the committee has not been reconstituted at least since his death in Nov 2024 The affidavit filed by the National Council of Education, Research and Training(NCERT) in the Supreme Courtlast week in the wake of the controversy over the inclusion of a chapter on “corruption in the judiciary” in the Class 8 social science textbook shows that the “high-powered” National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC), entrusted with the critical responsibility of preparing textbooks for students of Classes 1 to 12, has a deceased member on board One of its 19 members, as per the March 10 affidavit filed by NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani, is former chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC) Bibek Debroy, who died in November 2024 The fact that his name still figures in the list of NSTC members indicates that the committee has not been reconstituted at least since his death more than a year ago A source in the Education Ministry confirmed that the NSTC was not reconstituted after Debroy’s death, and that it continued to function with the remaining members The NSTC, comprising Debroy and 18 others, was notified on July 21, 2023 with M C Pant, the then Chancellor of National Institute of Educational Plaing and Administration (NIEPA), as its chairperson The notification defines its role as: “To develop the school syllabus, textbooks and teaching learning materials for Classes 3-12 (and to appropriately revise the existing textbooks of Class 1 and 2 and to ensure smooth transition from Class 2 to 3” The now withdrawn Class 8 textbook also names Bibek Debroy as one of the 19 members of the NSTC He is mentioned at serial no 4 as “Late Bibek Debroy, Former Chairperson, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM)” TheIndian Expressreached out to the NCERT Director, but his response was still awaited at the time of filing of this report The NCERT had filed the affidavit in response to the notice issued by the Supreme Court, which took suo motu cognizance of a February 24 report by The Indian Express on the new Class 8 textbook listing“corruption in judiciary”, “massive backlog” as challenges The affidavit said “that the…chapter was to be looked into by the members of the NSTC” but this was not done and the Textbook Development Team (TDT), comprising academics Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasaa Kumar, only digitally circulated it to some of the committee members Hearing the matter on March 11, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, presiding over a three-judge bench, cited the alleged failure of the TDT to place the contents before the NSTC, to question the NCERT’s seriousness in carrying out the critical task of preparing curriculum “This affidavit is an eye-opener that the curriculum is issued without getting it approved at any level If you believe your affidavit, then after this Professor Michel Danino and the other two members (constituting the TDT), it should have gone to the NSTC…”, the CJI remarked The NCERT had also admitted in the affidavit that not getting the chapter reviewed by NSTC was a “major and unpardonable lapse” and sought to assure that the same will not be repeated hereafter Taking note of the admission, the SC directed “the Government of India, the State Governments, the Union Territories, as well as all public universities and institutions receiving funds from the Central or State Governments, to disassociate from” the “three members of the TDT forthwith” Ananthakrishnan G is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006 Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit Read More Stay updated with the latest -Click here to follow us on Instagram