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Kerala Publishes Expert Report Rejecting UGC Curriculum Drafts

The public release follows Kerala’s formal letter to the Centre urging complete withdrawal of the LOCF.

Overview

  • A Prabhat Patnaik-led panel with Romila Thapar as special invitee concludes the UGC’s draft frameworks violate university autonomy and overstep the commission’s mandate.
  • The report criticises ideologically driven content under an undefined Indian Knowledge Systems rubric, citing references to V. D. Savarkar and corporate governance framed through “Ram Rajya.”
  • Subject experts highlight major academic gaps, especially in mathematics, including delayed real analysis, insufficient algebra, outdated topics, and superficial “Mathematics in X” courses.
  • Kerala’s Higher Education Minister R. Bindu has notified the Union education ministry and the UGC of the state’s rejection and demand for a comprehensive, consultative redraft.
  • The UGC sought feedback in August on nine subject frameworks under NEP 2020, and despite national pushback including petitions by 900-plus academics, it has not announced revisions.