Overview
- Late June 2026 saw NCERT roll out the Class 6 R3 Kannada textbook titled 'Krishna' as part of the three-language NEP rollout, and local educationists and rights groups immediately objected to the book's name and content.
- Critics led by the People’s Alliance for Fundamental Right to Education say the title signals religious or mythological framing, that the book omits voices from Coastal Karnataka, North Karnataka, Malnad and Old Mysuru, and that a 'Health is Wealth' lesson stresses vegetarian foods while excluding common local non-vegetarian items.
- NCERT, which issued a formal clarification on June 25, 2026, said the title refers to the Krishna River under its river-naming convention for language texts and denied any ideological or vegetarian bias while saying the diet illustration includes non-vegetarian items.
- The dispute remains unresolved because state bodies and Kannada authorities contest parts of NCERT's explanation—notably the claimed presence of meat or fish in the plate illustration—and stakeholders are demanding DSERT involvement, renaming or withdrawal and revisions.
- The row highlights wider tensions in the NEP-2020 and NCF-SE-2023 rollout over who sets curriculum locally, and it could lead to targeted edits, an independent review, or changes to CBSE's plan to use the same R3 book across grades with tangible effects for how Kannada is taught in Karnataka schools.