The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has come out with a newly edited Social Science textbook for Class 9, which consists of a chapter dealing with the Emergency declared during the time when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was in office while leaving the Preamble to the Constitution and terms such as “secular” and “secularism”.
The new textbook, launched under NEP 2020 and NCF-SE 2023, has become the cause of a political row, wherein the BJP has come out supporting the move while the Congress party has accused the government of trying to mold constitutional debate.
The new textbook, titled Understanding Society: India and Beyond-Part 1, will supersede the existing books on history, geography, political science, and economics from the 2026-27 session.
Emergency introduced in revised curriculum
For the first time, the revised Class 9 curriculum includes a section on the Emergency imposed between 1975 and 1977. Under a chapter titled Challenges to Democratic Practices in India, the textbook states that during the Emergency, "a majority of Fundamental Rights were suspended, the press was censored, and numerous political leaders and activists were arrested."
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The chapter further notes that democratic institutions came under severe strain and citizens' freedoms were restricted during the period.
AI Generated The textbook also discusses the political unrest of the early 1970s, including protests led by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, and highlights that the defeat of the ruling government in the 1977 general elections demonstrated the resilience of Indian democracy and the importance of constitutional safeguards.
The Emergency was previously covered in NCERT's Class 12 Political Science curriculum, but this marks its inclusion in the revised Class 9 syllabus under NEP 2020.
Preamble and references to secularism omitted
The earlier Class 9 Political Science textbook, Democratic Politics-I, included a dedicated chapter titled Constitutional Design, which introduced students to the Constitution through the Preamble and explained terms such as "Sovereign", "Socialist", "Secular", "Democratic" and "Republic".
The previous textbook described the Preamble as a document that "contains the philosophy on which the entire Constitution has been built" and explained secularism as a system where the state accords equal respect to all religions.
However, a review of the revised textbook shows that while it discusses the Constituent Assembly, constitutional values, fundamental rights, liberty, equality, justice and fraternity, it neither reproduces the Preamble nor explains its terminology. The words "secular" and "secularism" also do not appear in the newly released volume.
Political reactions
The changes have sparked sharp political reactions. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan defended the inclusion of the Emergency chapter, stating that future generations should understand the events of that period.
"The NCERT has done the right thing. Future generations should know and understand the dark deeds of the Emergency," Pradhan told reporters in Chandigarh.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot criticised the move, alleging that the BJP was attempting to present history through its own political lens.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also reacted to the development, arguing that the Emergency was a constitutional provision and should be studied within its legal and historical context.
Other changes in the revised textbook
There have also been some changes made in relation to the Election Commission of India. While the former textbook talked about how the Election Commission was independent and had powers, the later textbook talks more about the role of the Election Commission as per the constitution and its functions related to conducting of elections.
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As per the foreword given by the Director of NCERT Dinesh Prasad Saklani in the textbook, the revision of the book was made to enable the students to develop critical thinking in the area of governance, society, culture, economy and human relations.
It is part of the initiative of NCERT in publishing the books in accordance with the National Education Policy 2020 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023.
FAQs
Q1. What revisions have been done in NCERT Class 9 Social Science Book?
Emergency (1975-77) chapter has been added and Preamble of the Constitution has been removed in the NCERT book.
Q2. Why has there been controversy in relation to the revised NCERT textbook?
This revision has led to controversy politically as BJP favors addition of the chapter of Emergency while other political parties oppose the removal of Preamble and secularism from textbooks.
