New Delhi: New HRD minister Prakash Javadekar held closed-door meetings with senior fuctionaries of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and several affiliated outfits on the New Education Policy (NEP) on Wednesday.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Javadekar interacted with members of Vidya Bharati, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh, Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, Sanskrit Bharati, Shiksha Bachao Andolan, Vigyan Bharati and Itihas Sankalan Yojana for close to six hours at Gujarat Bhawan.
Also present were BJP President Amit Shah, RSS joint general secretary Krishna Gopal andAniruddha Deshpande, RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sampark Pramukh.
The report says the meeting was held to share the Sangh’s inputs on the NEP and to plan measures to “instil nationalism, pride and ancient Indian values in modern education”.
The committee appointed to formulate the NEP had earlier received over 80,000 suggestions.
The report adds that the RSS asked Javadekar to release the draft education policy in as many Indian languages as possible. The RSS also wants the Hindi version released quickly because in the absence of this, inputs from a large section of the population cannot be received.
Now, delegations of organisations affiliated to RSS are to meet Javadekar separately to brief him about their suggestions.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of the HRD ministry seeking feedback on the draft education policy that was made public earlier this month, when Smriti Irani was HRD Minister. The RSS was rumoured to be upset with the draft policy as it did not include inputs provided by its affiliate organisations.
Javadekar, after assuming charge, extended the feedback deadline from July 31 to August 15.
