With recent revisions to the curriculum for its Master in Arts program, the Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University in the Indian state of Maharashtra sparked a political debate in the region. Opposition parties have criticized the university’s decision to include the history of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to its Masters in Arts (MA) 4th Semester curriculum while removing the history of the Communist Party.
The history of the regional parties will take the place of the Communist Party’s, according to Nagpur University.
After Diwali, students in the MA program at Nagpur University will begin their fourth semester, during which they will study topics including the history of the BJP and the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign. In the past, the university taught both the history of Congress and Jan Sangh.
The Board of Practice of Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University’s history department has given its approval to these adjustments. The fourth semester of the MA History course was changed due to revisions mandated by the National Education Policy.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was added into the Nagpur University’s BA curriculum in 2019, following a pattern of syllabus revisions.
In addition, the course will now address the BJP’s development after the Jana Sangh era, including its establishment and contribution to a stable central administration. For students, this course is optional. The curriculum will also look at key movements that occurred between 1980 and 2000, such the influential Ram Janmabhoomi campaign that permanently altered Indian politics.
However, there has been considerable dispute over these changes, with the Congress voicing reservations about the revised curriculum.
The Delhi University Academic Council (AC) previously changed a number of optional papers in the undergraduate Economics program. The article “Economics of Discrimination” has been changed to “Economic Thought of Ambedkar,” among other things. Small changes were made to the paper on “Production Relations and Globalization,” and the reading list for the paper on “Economy, State, and Society” was revised. This new paper will be presented during the current 2023–2024 academic year and added to the university’s undergraduate economics curriculum.
A team of six people was formed by Yogesh Singh, the vice chancellor of the University of Delhi, to examine the Economics curriculum. The Academic Council members opposed to the amendments contend that using this strategy would obviate the democratic process of syllabus creation.
