Overview
- NCERT denied reports that the Preamble was dropped from the Class 9 social-science book, saying Saturday that the Preamble still appears in the opening pages of all new NCERT textbooks and forms part of the Grade 10 syllabus.
- Opposition parties criticized the revised Class 9 text for lacking a standalone Preamble chapter and for removing explicit references to terms such as 'secular' and 'socialist', prompting public protests and media attention.
- NCERT told news agencies the changes follow the new National Curriculum Framework and redistribute topics across grades rather than concentrating them in a single textbook, and it said item-by-item comparisons with older editions are misleading.
- The revised social-science volume adopts an integrated approach and adds substantive content such as a Class 9 section on the 1975–77 Emergency, expanded lessons on electoral institutions, and warnings about counterfeit textbooks.
- The dispute highlights how fast curriculum edits can become political flashpoints and suggests the next developments to watch are classroom rollout, official Grade 10 coverage of constitutional values, and whether opposition scrutiny leads to further clarifications.