Ex-ABVP convenor, PM-EAC members in NCERT’s new English and Economics textbook committees
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The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has constituted two committees to develop Economics and English textbooks for Classes 11 and 12, whose members include a former national media convenor of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), as well as members of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council.
Earlier, the NCERT had announced a committee to develop Political Science textbooks for the senior secondary classes, with at least four members having direct or indirect links to the RSS.
A notification issued by NCERT on September 8 for the English Language and Literature Textbooks Committee named Saket Bahuguna, Assistant Professor (Linguistics) at the Central Institute of Hindi, Delhi, as one of the panel’s 17 members. Mr. Bahuguna is a right-wing student activist who rose to prominence through university politics in New Delhi.
Originally from Uttarakhand, he completed his graduation and post-graduation at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and later pursued research in Linguistics at Delhi University (DU). He became an active student leader, rising to become the Delhi State secretary and subsequently the national media convener of the ABVP.
He was one of the central figures and vocal faces of the ABVP during the February 2016 JNU protests. He clashed with left-wing student groups over the organisation of an event on campus regarding Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, positioning himself as a voice against “anti-national” activities.
Throughout his tenure as a chief spokesperson for the ABVP, he faced continuous friction and allegations from political opponents regarding high-handedness and ideological policing during student union elections and seminars across the DU and JNU campus networks.
The textbook committee also includes Trivikrama Kumari Jamwal, former Head of English at The Shri Ram School Aravali, Gurugram. She is also a member of the erstwhile Mewar royal family. In 2017, her brother wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on behalf of the family, urging the government to withhold the certification and release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati, citing “misrepresentation of heritage”.
The 17-member team will be headed by N. Nagaraju, Vice-Chancellor of the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.
NCERT also named Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PM-EAC), as the head of the 14-member committee for Economics textbooks. PM-EAC member Shamika Ravi is also part of the committee.
“The textbooks will subsequently undergo a review to ensure the integration of themes such as cultural rootedness, Indian knowledge systems, inclusion, educational technology and assessment,” said the NCERT notification.
The committees have been instructed to ensure the new textbooks incorporate cross-cutting themes prescribed by other NCERT Curriculum Area Groups, including equity and inclusion, age-appropriate pedagogy, value education, information and communications technology (ICT), Indian knowledge systems, and environmental education.
The English textbook committee is expected to finish its work for Class 11 by November 30, 2026 and for Class 12 by September 30, 2027, NCERT director Dinesh Saklani said in the notification. The draft manuscript will then be reviewed by NCERT. The Economics textbook committee is expected to complete its work by February 28, 2027 next year.
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