New NCERT Class 9 Textbook Removes Preamble, Introduces Emergency Chapter

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has released a new Class 9 Social Science textbook that replaces the Preamble and mentions of "secularism" with a new, detailed discussion regarding the national Emergency of 1975-77. This integrated volume, titled *Understanding Society: India and Beyond-Part 1*, is being rolled out under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.

The changes have ignited a significant political conflict. While Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan argued that students should be exposed to the "dark deeds" of the Emergency, opposition leaders, including those from the Congress, have described the omission of the Preamble and the secular framing as an attack on constitutional values. Critics allege that the government is utilizing curriculum reform to push a specific ideological narrative, while the government maintains it is correcting historical imbalances.

The new textbook integrates history, geography, political science, and economics into a single volume. The specific chapter covering the Emergency notes the suspension of fundamental rights, press censorship, and the eventual defeat of the ruling government in 1977 as proof of Indian democracy’s resilience. However, the absence of the Preamble—which was previously used to explain concepts like sovereignty and secularism—has become the central point of contention for educational experts and political observers.