‘Eggs and meat missing’: Karnataka group criticizes NCERT for class 6 Kannada ‘Krishna’

An education activist group based in Karnataka has accused the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) of trying to disrupt education through its Class 6 Kannada textbook, Krishna. The organization, People’s Alliance for Fundamental Rights to Education (PAFRE), has called for the book to be removed from the syllabus for the academic year, saying it promotes religious themes and sidelines Karnataka’s culture and diverse cuisine. In his speech, PAFRE Principal Convener Niranjanaradhya VP said the book shows many ways to introduce mythology and religious themes in school curriculum under the guidance of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. “This is nothing but a work to hinder education,” he said. The group also questioned NCERT’s decision to name Krishna’s book. According to PAFRE, the culture of Karnataka is closely associated with writers and social reformers like Adikavi Pampa, Kuvempu, Kota Shivaram Karanth and Basavanna. “Karnataka’s identity is based on the ideas and contributions of great poets and revolutionaries like Adikavi Pampa, Kuvempu, Kota Shivaram Karanth and Basavanna. However NCERT has chosen the name ‘Krishna’,” the agency said. PAFRE also criticized the study on nutrition, saying that it encourages unhealthy eating habits and abandons the food most people eat in the state. “The dish depicted in this study consists of ragi mudde, roti, rice, vegetables, milk, and fruits only, while fish, eggs, and meat are absent,” it said. The organization said that this gives a poor picture of Karnataka’s food culture and questioned whether the people who eat pork chops, fish curry and keema balls have been neglected. It is also said that the book presents vegetarian food as the only sign of a healthy diet. “By justifying vegetarianism, politics is being brought to children’s dinner plates. This is not education; it is cultural terrorism,” the group said. PAFRE said that the book does not adequately represent the folklore, literature and lifestyle of various regions of Karnataka, including Coastal Karnataka, North Karnataka, Malnad and Old Mysuru region. The board has asked the CBSE to remove the book from the Class 6 syllabus this year and urged the NCERT to explain in writing why the book was named Krishna. It has also called for the inclusion of references to eggs, fish and meat in the chapter on nutrition, questioning the removal of the Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) from creating textbooks, and calling for the textbook to be revised to better reflect what Karnataka was.