NCERT names panels for Class 11, 12 English and Economics textbooks
NCERT has constituted two committees to draft English and Economics textbooks for Classes 11 and 12, drawing members from the ABVP and the PM's Economic Advisory Council.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has set up two committees to prepare Economics and English textbooks for Classes 11 and 12, with panels that include a former office-bearer of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and members of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PM-EAC).
A notification dated September 8 named Saket Bahuguna, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the Central Institute of Hindi in Delhi, as one of 17 members of the English Language and Literature Textbooks Committee. Mr. Bahuguna, who is from Uttarakhand, studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University for his graduation and post-graduation before taking up research in Linguistics at Delhi University. He went on to become Delhi State secretary and later national media convenor of the ABVP, and was among the organisation's prominent faces during the February 2016 JNU protests, where he clashed with left-wing student groups over a campus event concerning Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. As a chief spokesperson for the ABVP, he drew allegations of high-handedness and ideological policing during student union elections and seminars across the DU and JNU campus networks.
The English panel will be headed by N. Nagaraju, Vice-Chancellor of the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. Its members include Trivikrama Kumari Jamwal, former Head of English at The Shri Ram School Aravali in Gurugram and a member of the erstwhile Mewar royal family. In 2017, her brother wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on behalf of the family, asking the government to withhold certification and release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati, citing misrepresentation of heritage.
For Economics, NCERT named PM-EAC member Sanjeev Sanyal to head a 14-member committee, which also includes Shamika Ravi, another member of the council.
The notification said the textbooks will undergo a review to ensure the integration of themes such as cultural rootedness, Indian knowledge systems, inclusion, educational technology and assessment. The committees have also been asked to incorporate cross-cutting themes prescribed by other NCERT Curriculum Area Groups, including equity and inclusion, age-appropriate pedagogy, value education, information and communications technology, Indian knowledge systems and environmental education.
According to NCERT director Dinesh Saklani, the English committee is expected to complete its Class 11 work by November 30, 2026, and its Class 12 work by September 30, 2027, after which the draft manuscript will be reviewed by NCERT. The Economics committee is expected to finish its work by February 28, 2027.
The two panels follow NCERT's earlier announcement of a committee to develop Political Science textbooks for the senior secondary classes, at least four of whose members had direct or indirect links to the RSS.