Including Election Commission chapter in NCERT book is absolutely wrong: TMC’s Saugata Roy
Speaking to ANI, Raut said, “This feels bad. We have lodged many complaints regarding the functioning of the Election Commission. This time, Special Intensive Revision (SIR) took place in West Bengal, 27 lakh voters were denied the right to vote. This was wrong… It is absolutely wrong for this to be included in the NCERT book. We condemn this.”
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These words come from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), new Chapter IX. It came after he praised the Election Commission of India (ECI) in his Class Social Science textbook; He described India’s electoral practice as “unique” and said the constitutional body was trying to ensure that elections were conducted “impartially” despite challenges such as “misinformation, fake news and intimidation”.
The Elections chapter of the newly introduced Understanding Society: India and Beyond – Part 1 textbook, which is expected to reach students in the coming days, highlights the scale of the electoral process in India and the role of the Election Commission in conducting elections across the country.
“India’s electoral practice is unique and different from those in other parts of the world; there are more than 96.8 crore eligible voters spread across different regions and terrains. ECI manages this exercise autonomously, ensuring free and fair elections across the country,” the book said.
“Despite the numerous challenges to conducting free and fair elections, ECI strives at various levels to ensure that elections are conducted in an impartial manner.” he added. While the episode praises the functioning of the Electoral Commission, it also highlights the challenges involved in conducting elections in the world’s largest democracy.
“In India, holding elections for over 96.8 crore voters (in 2024) with thousands of polling booths and hundreds of political parties spread across different regions and socio-economic realities is a challenging task,” said a special section titled “Challenges of Free and Fair Elections.”
The book specifically identifies misinformation, fake news, and intimidation as the main challenges faced during elections.
The textbook also highlights the Electoral Commission’s efforts to make elections more inclusive under the theme “No Voters Left Behind.”
He talks about Braille-enabled Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), home voting for eligible senior citizens and various digital platforms developed by the Commission.
The listed initiatives include Saksham App for persons with disabilities, Voter Helpline App, CVIGIL for reporting Model Code of Conduct violations, ETPBS for service voters, Suvidha, ERONET and Sugam for candidates.
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Students are also asked to identify reforms that the Electoral Commission has introduced for people with disabilities, service voters, the elderly, prisoners and those in preventive detention.
Students are also asked to examine coalition politics by identifying the alliances that won the Lok Sabha elections in 1977, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024.
