Telangana SCERT stokes controversy; shows Constitution Preamble without 'socialist', 'secular' words

Hyderabad: Telangana State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has stoked a major controversy after its school textbook showed the Preamble of the Constitution without 'socialist' and 'secular' words.

According to the Telangana State United Teachers' Federation (TSUTF), the class 10 social studies textbook published by SCERT displayed the Preamble without the 'socialist' and 'secular' words, which were introduced through the 42nd Amendment.

“Due to oversight, the image of the original Preamble was downloaded at the time of redesigning instead of the amended one on the cover page of the class X Social Studies textbook,” SCERT stated.

At a time when there is a raging debate "across the globe" that secularism is in danger in India, the publication of the old preamble "the way some people want it" instead of the one that is in force gives rise to several doubts, the Federation claimed.

According to the communique, M Radha Reddy directed all the District Educational Officers (DEOs) to download the image of the preamble (amended) furnished by the State Council of Educational Research & Training (SCERT) and have it pasted on the cover page of the class X Social Studies textbook.

"Therefore, all the District Educational Officers in the state are informed to instruct all the Headmasters/Principals of High Schools under all managements to ensure that the image of the Preamble (amended copy) is pasted on the Class X Social Studies textbook, supplied to the schools immediately, duly submitting the compliance report to the SCERT, Telangana without fail," he said.