Overview

• Chapters on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, Brigadier Mohammad Usman and Major Somnath Sharma have been added to Class VII (Urdu) and Class VIII (Urdu and English) textbooks for the 2024–25 academic year.
• The initiative reflects a collaboration between the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Education and NCERT to integrate the National War Memorial into classroom learning.
• Curriculum planners say the new chapters aim to teach resilience, empathy, emotional intelligence and nation-building through real-life accounts of courage and sacrifice.
• Manekshaw’s chapter spotlights his leadership in the 1971 Indo-Pak war while Usman and Sharma are honoured for their posthumous Maha Vir Chakra and Param Vir Chakra awards from the 1947–48 Kashmir conflict.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced the textbook additions on social media and in a press release, underscoring the government’s focus on military heritage in education.