New NCERT Class 9 Textbook Drops Preamble, Secularism References, Adds Emergency and SIR; Dharmendra Pradhan reacts | Today’s news

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has launched a debate over the emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, omitting the preamble and references to “secular” and “secularism” in her Class 9 social studies textbook, released on June 25.

Preamble references to “secular” and “secularism” featured prominently in the previous Grade 9 textbook.

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The revised textbook, issued under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023, discusses the Constitution through its framing, democratic institutions and fundamental rights, but does not reproduce the preamble or explain its terminology, Hindustan Times reported.

Quick answers to key questions

•5 QUESTIONS

The NCERT Class 9 Social Science Textbook has omitted references to the preamble and the terms “secular” and “secularism” that were contained in the previous textbook. This marks a significant shift in how constitutional values ​​are presented.

The Emergency was added to highlight one of the major challenges facing Indian democracy and enable students to understand its impact on fundamental rights and the functioning of democratic institutions.

The new textbook describes the Emergency as a period when democratic institutions faced severe pressure, when citizens’ liberties were curtailed and fundamental rights were suspended, marking it as a pivotal event in India’s constitutional history.

Special Intensive Review (SIR) is referred to as a process involving the updating and verification of electoral rolls to ensure that eligible voters, especially young citizens, are included in the electoral process.

Yes, the omission of the preamble and references to secularism has raised concerns among educators and policy analysts about the implications for students’ understanding of India’s core constitutional values.

The textbook also introduces the State of Emergency for the first time in the revised 9th grade curriculum, describing it as a period when democratic institutions came under severe pressure and citizens’ liberties were curtailed.

What exactly is released?

In the earlier NCERT textbook, Democratic Politics-I, an entire chapter titled Constitutional Design was devoted to explaining constitution making.

The chapter used the preamble as a central framework to familiarize students with constitutional values, describing it as a document that “contains the philosophy on which the entire Constitution was built,” Hindustan Times reported, adding that students were taught the meanings of “Sovereign”, “Socialist”, “Secular”, “Democratic” and “Republic”.

The chapter said the preamble “reads like a poem about democracy” and explained secularism as a system with “no official religion” where the state accords equal respect to all faiths.

In the new textbook, however, the Constitution is discussed through sections on the Constituent Assembly, constitution-making, democratic institutions and fundamental rights. The textbook states that the Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946 to draft a constitution for independent India and describes the constitution as a “robust, flexible, transformative and responsive” document. It also emphasizes liberty, equality, justice and fraternity and discusses rights related to equality, liberty and religion.

However, the new textbook does not reproduce the preamble or explain its terminology. The words ‘secular’ and ‘secularism’ do not appear in the volume, the HT report said.

The newly released 220-page textbook Understanding Society: India and Beyond-Part 1 replaces the separate history, geography, political science and economics textbooks that were used till the 2025-26 academic session. The integrated textbook, which is to be used from the academic year 2026-2027, contains two chapters from four disciplines.

Emergency chapter in the 9th grade curriculum

Emergency was discussed earlier in the NCERT Class 12 Political Science textbook which was introduced in 2007 and is still in use. This is the first time the subject has been included in the revised Class 9 curriculum, which is being rolled out under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.

The BJP has supported NCERT’s decision to introduce a section on the Emergency years in the Class 9 social studies textbook, saying the “dark chapter” of India’s constitutional history needs to be kept in mind to ensure it is never repeated.

Inclusion is a significant addition to the school curriculum as the country recently celebrated 50 years since the declaration of emergency in 1975.

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The emergency section is part of a wider discussion of the challenges facing democratic systems. In addition to Emergency, the textbook deals with issues such as fake news, disinformation, damage to public property, violation of public rules, poverty, regionalism, social discrimination and gender inequality as challenges for democratic practice.

The Electoral Commission chapter has been reworked

The mention of the electoral commission was also revised. The controversial SIR finds a mention in the chapter on elections in the new class 9 book, in the section on the functions of the polling panel, the Indian Express reported.

“The ECI also conducts Special Intensive Revision (SIR) which includes updating, verification and correction of electoral rolls…Through SIR, it ensures that no eligible citizen is omitted and no ineligible person is included in the electoral roll. This exercise ensures the addition of all voters, especially young voters who have just turned 18 and may be omitted for any other reason.”

BJP supports emergency inclusion

The ruling party also challenged Congress over the declaration of Emergency in 1975, claiming that it was against NCERT’s decision to introduce the section.

Former Union Law Minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad claimed that the Congress was afraid of the truth because any discussion of the Emergency would raise uncomfortable questions about the arrest of Jayaprakash Narayan, the forced sterilization campaign and other actions taken during the period.

“The present generation, as well as future generations, must study in political science what happened in the country during the Emergency. The problem with the Congress is that they are afraid of the truth, because when it is discussed, a lot of things will come out.

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“Young people will ask why Jayaprakash Narayan was arrested. Why forced sterilization was done? The Congress has no answer,” Prasad told reporters during a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.

What did Education Minister Pradhan say?

Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan appreciated NCERT’s decision to include a section on emergency in class 9 textbooks. He said it is important that the future generations understand the dark chapter of this period so that such situations never happen again.

Future generations should know and understand the dark deeds of the Emergency so that such a situation does not happen again.

Talking to reporters, Pradhan said, “It is true. NCERT has done the right thing. Future generations should know and understand the dark deeds of Emergency so that such a situation does not happen again. That is why NCERT has brought it to the fore. NCERT has done a good job…”