05-29-2004, 03:30 AM
<b>Some heads may roll in NCERT, ICHR </b>
Barkha Goel/ New Delhi
Heads may roll in the NCERT, ICHR and possible restructuring in the National Museum, Indira Gandhi Centre for Arts (INGCA) could be on the cards. Hectic lobbying for the filling up the vacant post of Director, National Museum, are on within the Human Resources Ministry (HRD).
The HRD Ministry is abuzz about the likely changes in portfolios of officials in the near future. However, the agenda of the Left and the Congress differs. The Left has an axe to grind regarding the saffronisation of textbooks. With the director of NCERT scheduled to retire on July 12, the question of his successor is being debated on.
<b>Regarding the "de-saffronisation" of textbooks, the ministry officials feel that the immediate move may be to withdraw new textbooks, which were brought in during the NDA Government and replace with older ones</b>. <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
The director of Indian Council of Historical Research, D N Tripathi, who was appointed in February this year might be changed to suit demands of the Left, desiring a stronghold in the ICHR. Mr Tripathi is also one of the members of the review committee set up by the NDA to look into the NCERT textbooks. However, there are differences within the Left regarding the names doing the rounds. While the CPI(M) is backing historians like Sabyasaachi Bhattacharya, K N Pannikar, Harbans Mukhiya and Irfan Habib, the CPI is promoting B N Jha, Musherul Hassan and K N Shreemaali. <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
National Book Trust (NBT) Chairman Brij Kishore Sharma's days also seem numbered. <b>His directive to the NBT to publish books on the cultural heritage including biographies of Vivekananda, Dr Raghubir, Rana Sanga and Vir Savarkar, may seal his fate.</b> <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Some structural changes could be made on the Congress agenda, as the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) and INGCA were earlier under the HRD Ministry and later shifted to the culture ministry. The Congress may be pressing for changing the heads of these institutions as party president Sonia Gandhi was removed from the position of INGCA chairperson in 1999 when the then Culture Minister Maneka Gandhi ordered an investigation into the misappropriation of funds. She was also forced to step down from chairperson of the NMML.
Barkha Goel/ New Delhi
Heads may roll in the NCERT, ICHR and possible restructuring in the National Museum, Indira Gandhi Centre for Arts (INGCA) could be on the cards. Hectic lobbying for the filling up the vacant post of Director, National Museum, are on within the Human Resources Ministry (HRD).
The HRD Ministry is abuzz about the likely changes in portfolios of officials in the near future. However, the agenda of the Left and the Congress differs. The Left has an axe to grind regarding the saffronisation of textbooks. With the director of NCERT scheduled to retire on July 12, the question of his successor is being debated on.
<b>Regarding the "de-saffronisation" of textbooks, the ministry officials feel that the immediate move may be to withdraw new textbooks, which were brought in during the NDA Government and replace with older ones</b>. <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
The director of Indian Council of Historical Research, D N Tripathi, who was appointed in February this year might be changed to suit demands of the Left, desiring a stronghold in the ICHR. Mr Tripathi is also one of the members of the review committee set up by the NDA to look into the NCERT textbooks. However, there are differences within the Left regarding the names doing the rounds. While the CPI(M) is backing historians like Sabyasaachi Bhattacharya, K N Pannikar, Harbans Mukhiya and Irfan Habib, the CPI is promoting B N Jha, Musherul Hassan and K N Shreemaali. <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
National Book Trust (NBT) Chairman Brij Kishore Sharma's days also seem numbered. <b>His directive to the NBT to publish books on the cultural heritage including biographies of Vivekananda, Dr Raghubir, Rana Sanga and Vir Savarkar, may seal his fate.</b> <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Some structural changes could be made on the Congress agenda, as the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) and INGCA were earlier under the HRD Ministry and later shifted to the culture ministry. The Congress may be pressing for changing the heads of these institutions as party president Sonia Gandhi was removed from the position of INGCA chairperson in 1999 when the then Culture Minister Maneka Gandhi ordered an investigation into the misappropriation of funds. She was also forced to step down from chairperson of the NMML.