NCERT introduces section on Emergency in Class IX textbook for first time, flags it as 'challenge to democracy'
The NCERT has included a section on the 1975-77 Emergency in its new Class 9 social science textbook, framing it as a significant challenge to Indian democracy. The text highlights the suspension of fundamental rights and the role of political opposition during that period.
Why it matters
The inclusion of this historical event in school curricula is a significant development in how modern Indian history is taught and interpreted in the classroom.
More than five decades after the Emergency was imposed in India, NCERT has, for the first time, introduced the topic in a Class 9 textbook, presenting it as "one of the major challenges," as the majority of fundamental rights were suspended. The reference appears in the newly developed Social Science textbook, Understanding Society: India and Beyond, where the Emergency has been included in a chapter examining the strengths and challenges of Indian democracy.
The article objectively reports on the curriculum change and provides the context of the textbook's content.
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