The Preamble to the Constitution has been dropped from several Class III and Class VI textbooks issued by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) this year.

The omission has taken place from some textbooks for what are considered the “main academic subjects”, such as the languages and environmental studies (EVS).

The NCERT, which published textbooks for all classes between 2005-06 and 2007-08, is revising them after the introduction of the latest National Education Policy (NEP) by the NDA government in 2020. This year, new books have been issued for Classes III and VI, also keeping the new National Curriculum Framework in mind.

In the old textbooks for Class VI, the Preamble was printed on one of the first few pages of the Hindi textbook Durva, the English book Honey Suckle, the science book and all three EVS books — Our Pasts-I, Social and Political Life-I and The Earth Our Habitat.

In the newly introduced books, the Preamble is printed only in the science book, Curiosity, and the Hindi book Malhar. The NCERT has published just one book on environmental studies in place of three. This book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, does not have the Preamble, but mentions the fundamental rights and fundamental duties. The new book for mathematics is not available yet.

The new English textbook, Poorvi, has the national anthem, while the Sanskrit text, Deepakam, has both the national anthem and the national song, but not the Preamble. The earlier Sanskrit book, Ruchira, did not have the Preamble, either.

In Class III, none of the new textbooks for Hindi, English, mathematics and World Around Us (which replaces EVS) has printed the Preamble.

The old EVS book, Looking Around, and the Hindi book, Rimjhim 3, did have the Preamble.

Nandita Narain, a former faculty member at St Stephen’s College under Delhi University, said the Preamble is a miniature form of the Constitution and that the national anthem, national song, or the fundamental rights and duties cannot replace it.

“The NCERT must explain why it has removed the Preamble from several textbooks. I don’t think it is a coincidence,” Narain said.

“I feel that the BJP government is afraid of the Preamble, which encompasses the core values of the Constitution like liberty, equality and fraternity. This government has acted against the core values of the Constitution. So it has removed the Preamble from so many books.”

The Telegraph sent an email to NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani on July 20 to understand the textbook-preparing agency’s perspectives on dropping the Preamble from several textbooks. His response is awaited.