The Railway Ministry has sent a proposal to the Union Cabinet in which it has reportedly dropped “India” and replaced it with “Bharat” in the entire document. According to a report in Times of India, this is perhaps the first proposal for the Cabinet that has used ‘Bharat’ in place of India in every aspect whether the logistics cost, modal share of cargo and country’s economy.
Citing sources, Times of India reported that the usage of ‘Bharat’ is going to be more and more in government documents in the coming days. They noted that ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’ have been used interchangeably in the Constitution and there is nothing wrong in using this in Cabinet proposals.
It is important to note that in recent weeks, official releases have increased the usage of ‘Bharat’ instead of ‘India’.
Earlier, on 26th October, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan noted that there is no difference between ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’. He, however, added that there is a “competition to dispute the concept of Bharat” in the minds of a few “frustrated people”.
Notably, his remarks followed the recommendations of a panel responsible for revising NCERT social science textbooks. The panel proposed that ‘India’ should be replaced with ‘Bharat’ in all social science textbooks up to Class 12.
According to the chairman CI Isaac, the panel suggested replacing the name “India” with “Bharat” in textbooks. Additionally, it also proposed to introduce “classical history” instead of “ancient history” in the curriculum, and include the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the syllabus.
According to Isaac, the call for it was made uncontested by the seven-member high-level committee, and it was also mentioned in the panel’s final position document on social sciences.
“The term India started being used commonly only after the establishment of the East India Company and the battle of Plassey in 1757. On the other hand, the use of the term Bharat dates back more than 5,000 years. Against this backdrop, all the seven-panel members decided to recommend the use of Bharat in textbooks for students in all classes,” Issac was quoted as saying.
Notably, the Indian Constitution defines India as Bharat as it notes that “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.” Bharat is an age-old name. The use of the name Bharat finds its mention in ancient texts such as Vishnu Purana, which is 7,000 years old, Issac noted.
The India-Bharat name row gained prominence after the Union government was seen promoting the usage of the name Bharat, with invitations to the G20 presidential dinner in September stating that the event would be hosted by the “President of Bharat.” Similarly, the nameplate in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Heads of State summit later included the word Bharat as opposed to India.
