‘Saffronisation’ of curriculum kicks up row in Council

Vijayawada:The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council has witnessed a heated debate on the remarks made by a member on Wednesday on “‘saffronisation” of curriculum under the Centre’s newly introduced National Education Policy.

YSR Congress MLC Pandula Ravindra Babu asked the government to explain the status of NEP and alleged that “saffronisation” of curriculum was being taken up under the NDA rule in the country.

Education minister Nara Lokesh refuted the charge and demanded withdrawal of such remarks. Replying to a question on this subject, the minister said the state government did no such thing. He questioned the rationale behind attributing communal identity to education and read out the meaning of the word ‘God’ in a dictionary brought out by the previous state government. He said all gods were equally important.

Education, he said, is a subject placed in the concurrent list and anything on education would be advisory in nature. He faulted Ravindra Babu for kicking up a controversy and “misleading the house.”

Members from the ruling and the opposition parties traded charges against each other. Chairman Koyye Moshenu Raju had a tough time restoring order.

YSR Congress members staged a walkout when the minister gave a presentation on ‘Reforms in Education Sector’ and raised their doubts about the secular nature of NEP.

Leader of the Opposition Botsa Satyanarayana justified their action by saying, “Since marshals were called in to remove them from the council forcibly, we staged a walkout gracefully without being subjected to humiliation.”

Botsa suggested to the chairman to verify the records vis-à-vis the statements of the minister and the YSRC member. If any statement was found to be objectionable, it could be removed, he said.

Lokesh thanked Botsa for helping resolve the issue amicably.