General Education Minister V Sivankutty has welcomed the Supreme Court’s intervention on references to “corruption” in the judiciary in the Class VIII social studies textbook published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
It is regrettable that content has been included in the textbook that demeaned the judiciary, which was the pillar of democracy, Mr. Sivankutty said in a Facebook post on Friday and demanded that an independent expert committee probe all revisions and deletions in all NCERT textbooks in recent times. “It should be investigated whether history and constitutional values are being distorted,” the minister said.
Mr. Sivankutty said that giving wrong messages to students about the judicial system was a serious offence. “The young generation must be taught to respect constitutional institutions,” he said.
He pointed out that Kerala had earlier opposed such unilateral deletion of content and had released other textbooks containing NCERT-approved key content.
Mr. Sivankutty demanded strict action against those who led the preparation of the controversial content and those who approved it. The NCERT director and others concerned were required to give clear answers to the court’s questions on the issue, he said.
He stressed that communalism or opposition to constitutional institutions would not be allowed in the education sector. “The state’s position is that a comprehensive investigation should take place in this matter under the supervision of the Supreme Court,” the minister said.
The Supreme Court has ordered a blanket ban on Class VIII social science textbooks, citing a calculated move to malign the judiciary.
Published – 27 Feb 2026 21:03 IST
