BENGALURU: With widespread furor about an alleged misrepresentation of Karnataka’s dietary plurality in the third language Kannada textbook released for the sixth standard by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the national education body released a clarification on Thursday claiming that it did not act in discrimination towards any dietary demographic.
“Nowhere in the textbook is vegetarianism justified, nor is non-vegetarian food opposed,” NCERT stated, “A balanced diet has been covered in Chapter 6 of this textbook. It is clearly mentioned in the introductory note of the chapter ‘Health is Wealth’ that, for good health, a balanced diet, exercise and cleanliness are essential.
The text explains that the body needs balanced foods such as milk, green leafy vegetables, vegetables, fruits and other food items, and that these should be part of our daily diet. The illustration given on page 63 includes both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items.”
Notably, even within the context of NCERT’s explanation, the illustration is the only expression that non-vegetarian food finds, with the written word reserved for vegetarian preferences.
'Name Krishna based on river'
NCERT’s statement also took exception to the allegation that naming the textbook ‘Krishna’ was an attempt to saffronise the curriculum, stating that “The name ‘Krishna’ is inspired by the Krishna River, one of the major rivers of India, which also flows in Karnataka. The title is not intended to refer to Lord Krishna in any way.”
Members of the Kannada Abhivrudhi Pradhikara (Kannada Development Authority, KDA) retaliated, “Krishna is not the identity of our Karnataka. Since the beginning of time, Cauvery has been the lifeline of Karnataka. But naming the Kannada book published by NCERT to teach Kannada as a third language as ‘Krishna’ is a big trick and a cunning plan to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 through the back door,” said the organisation. “Only those who are unaware of the cultural history of Kannada can commit such a betrayal,” they added.
KDA also called out NCERT’s claim of including non-vegetarian food in an illustration as a falsehood. “In the illustration mentioned on page 63, there is no picture representing fish, meat or other non-vegetarian food except for eggs. We did not expect NCERT to give a false explanation to this extent. This has shocked us,” the statement continued.