The Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Council witnessed a heated debate on Wednesday over the alleged saffronisation of education under the current Telugu Desam Party-led coalition government.
During the question hour, YSR Congress Party MLC Pandula Ravindra Babu accused the Naidu government of saffronizing the new education policy.
He alleged that the syllabus had been altered to align with the ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), incorporating elements related to Hinduism and Hindu deities.
In response, TDP General Secretary and State Education Minister Nara Lokesh strongly refuted the allegations, demanding that Ravindra Babu withdraw what he called baseless accusations.
Lokesh asserted that it was incorrect to claim that the syllabus had been modified as part of any saffronisation process, accusing the opposition of misleading the House with unnecessary claims.
He pointed out that during the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government, students were provided with dictionaries in which the definition of "God" was described in a way that referenced only certain religions.
Reading from one of those dictionaries, Lokesh said: “According to this dictionary, 'God' is defined as ‘the perfect and all-powerful spirit or being that is worshipped, especially by Christians, Jews, and Muslims, as the one who created and rules the universe.’” He noted that the definition did not mention Hindus.
He further stated that the current government had supplied students with a new set of dictionaries, where the definition of "God" was more inclusive, describing it as an entity worshipped by people of all religions.
“Do we call this saffronisation?” he asked.
Lokesh emphasized that politics and religion should not be dragged into education, making it a controversial issue.
He also clarified that the central government had never mandated Hindi as a compulsory subject but had instead focused on promoting and preserving regional languages.
Meanwhile, senior leader Botsa Satyanarayana requested that any incorrect statements made by the YSRCP member be removed from the official records, a suggestion that Lokesh welcomed.
