A day after a rights group in Karnataka objected to the newly introduced NCERT Class 6 Kannada textbook R3 titled “Krishna”, alleging that the book has introduced mythology, religious themes and promotes a vegetarian-centric narrative into school education, the curriculum body said that neither vegetarianism is justified, nor is non-vegetarian food opposed in the textbook.
People’s Forum for Right to Education (PAFRE) said the textbook lacks representation of Karnataka’s rich social and cultural landscape, including the folklore, literature, and lifestyles of Coastal Karnataka, North Karnataka, Malnad, and Old Mysuru regions.
It said that the title of the textbook is after the Krishna river, which is one of the major rivers of Karnataka.
“It is to be noted that the Hindi textbook has been named as “Ganga”, the English textbook has been named as “Kaveri”, and the Urdu textbook has been named as “Jamuna” (Yamuna). Similarly, the Kannada textbook has been named as “Krishna”,” it clarified.
As far as the issue raised about the “diet”, it is stated that a balanced diet has been covered in Chapter 6 of this textbook.
“It is clearly mentioned in the introductory note of the chapter ‘Health is Wealth’ that for good health, a balanced diet, exercise and cleanliness are essential. Nowhere in the textbook is vegetarianism explained or justified, nor is non-vegetarian food opposed. The purpose of the chapter is to create awareness about healthy food items,” NCERT said.
