‘Krishna’ refers to river, not religion: NCERT clarifies

NCERT has dismissed allegations of saffronisation in its new Class 6 Kannada textbook, clarifying that 'Krishna' refers to the Krishna River and not a religious figure. The council also rejected claims that the book promotes vegetarianism or ignores Karnataka's cultural diversity

New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Thursday responded to saffronisation charge surrounding its newly introduced class 6 Kannada R3 textbook, clarifying that the title ‘Krishna’ refers to one of Karnataka’s major rivers.

A Karnataka-based education rights group had on Wednesday accused NCERT of attempting to “saffronise” the curriculum through the textbook.

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The group alleged that the textbook gives prominence to religious themes while marginalising Karnataka’s cultural identity and diverse dietary practices.

NCERT said all its R3 language textbooks have been named after Indian rivers as part of an effort to promote local cultural contexts in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.

“The name ‘Krishna’ is named after the Krishna River. The Hindi textbook has been named as ‘Ganga’, the English textbook has been named as ‘Kaveri’, and the Urdu textbook has been named as ‘Jamuna’ (Yamuna). Similarly, the Kannada textbook has been named as ‘Krishna’ as it is one of the major rivers flowing in Karnataka,” the council said in a statement.

People’s Alliance for Fundamental Rights to Education alleged that Karnataka’s cultural and literary heritage had been overlooked in the textbook.

The outfit criticised a lesson on nutrition, alleging it promotes a vegetarian worldview and excludes references to eggs, fish, and meat.

“A balanced diet has been covered in Chapter 6 of this textbook. It is also covered under a separate heading, ‘Balanced Diet’ on page 63. The illustrative image given on page 63 includes both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items. Nowhere in the textbook is vegetarianism explained or justified, nor is non-vegetarian food opposed,” it said.