Cartoons not exempt! NCERT removes cartoon on coalitions

New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has made a key revision this year in its Class 12 political science textbook by removing a political cartoon that depicted the challenges and uncertainties of coalition governments in India, including those led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The cartoon, which posed questions about the survival and effectiveness of democracy under coalition rule, has been replaced with a text box emphasising India’s success as a democracy compared to other nations, reports The Print.

The NCERT, which made a slew of changes in its latest version of the textbooks, has said in an official document that it removed the political cartoon because it cast India “in a negative light”.

The revision was made to chapter eight of the textbook, titled ‘Politics in India since Independence’, in which students explore the impact of coalition era-politics on Indian democracy, post-1989.

Until last year, this particular chapter, titled “Recent Developments in Indian Politics”, featured a political cartoon that depicted six PMs, It caricatured the prime minister of each coalition government between 1990 and 1998, starting from the V.P.

Singh-led government that lasted for less than a year between December 1989 and November 1990.(PTI)