Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The NCERT committee that examined cartoons in school textbooks has recommended the removal of cartoons and caricatures bearing negative references to politicians and bureaucrats.
The six-member panel which was set up following the row over Dr B R Ambedkar's cartoon in the political science textbook felt that as cartoons were good learning tools they should not be discarded away with completely.
In its recommendations, the government-appointed panel has favoured the removal or modification of only 36 of the 176 cartoons in textbooks for classes 9-12, a news channel said on Tuesday, quoting from the report.
The panel found too many cartoons of the Nehru-Gandhi family in the textbooks and has sought their removal.
The six-member committee headed by Sukhadeo Thorat, chairperson of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, submitted its report to NCERT a couple of days back.
As per reports, one of member of the committee, Professor Pandian has refused to clear the report as he feels that an unnecessary controversy has been created over harmless cartoons, hence they need not be removed.
The panel had examined cartoons, illustrations and other contents in the six political science and social science textbooks after an assurance by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal in Parliament that he has directed removal of objectionable content and stoppage of distribution of books.
Following uproar in the Parliament, NCERT’s curriculum advisors Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar, who had approved the cartoon, had to step down.
First Published: Tuesday, July 03, 2012, 09:12