Sonia Gandhi wants northeast history in NCERT books

Guwahati: The office of Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi here on Friday said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked the chief minister to ensure that the proposed changes in the NCERT syllabus, as recommended by the Bezbaruah Committee on history and culture of north-eastern states, are meaningful.

The office of the Assam chief minister, in a statement, quoted Mrs Gandhi as saying: “The Assam government has to prepare itself to make representations to ensure changes in NCERT syllabus are meaningful in case the Centre decides to update the syllabus as per the recommendations made by the Bezbaruah Committee.”

She said in case the central government doesn’t act on the recommendations of the committee, Congress ruled states of Northeast should do whatever is possible to implement them within their own states.

She also regretted, “In the light of what we see to be widespread prejudice and ignorance, which tragically manifests itself in Delhi and elsewhere through violence and discrimination against people of Northeast origin, I believe there is an urgent need to make people around the country more familiar with the culture, society and history of these areas.”