NCERT’s new class 9 textbook adds Emergency, drops Preamble
New Delhi: For the first time, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has introduced the 1975–77 Emergency into the Class 9 curriculum, framing it as a major challenge to Indian democracy marked by suspended rights, press censorship, and arrests.
According to Kashmir Media Service, simultaneously, the revised volume omits the Constitution’s Preamble and terms like “secular” and “secularism,” which were central in earlier editions. The changes, made under NEP 2020 and NCF-SE 2023, also streamline the presentation of constitutional institutions and integrate history, geography, political science, and economics into a single 220-page book.
Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP leaders defended the Emergency’s inclusion as necessary to teach future generations about a “dark period” and the resilience of democracy. Congress leaders, including Sachin Pilot, Salman Khurshid, and Vijay Wadettiwar, accused the government of selective history and politicising education, while some opposition figures warned against omitting context like post-Emergency elections. Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders defended Indira Gandhi’s constitutional authority to impose an Emergency, and others argued governments routinely shape historical narratives to their perspective.
The new chapter situates the Emergency within a broader discussion of democratic strengths and vulnerabilities, alongside issues like fake news, poverty, and social discrimination. It traces the political unrest of the early 1970s, highlights Jayaprakash Narayan’s mass movements, and ends with the 1977 election defeat of the ruling party as evidence of democratic resilience. This framing links past crises to contemporary civic challenges, aiming to make constitutional principles relevant to students’ lived experiences.
The Emergency’s inclusion is part of NCERT’s ongoing implementation of NEP 2020-aligned textbooks, with the new integrated Class 9 volume replacing separate history, geography, political science, and economics books.
The text also updates portrayals of the Election Commission, emphasising its constitutional role in supervising elections, and describes the judiciary as impartial and independent in safeguarding rights. NCERT has issued public advisories against pirated copies of the textbook, directing users to official channels for authentic editions.
