India: Dept of of Personnel and Training (DoPT) removes training module with ‘religious bias’

The Hindu
NEW DELHI, September 15, 2013
DoPT removes training module with ‘religious bias’
Anita Joshua
Sitaram Yechury flagged ‘On Values in Administration’ document saying it ignored constitutional values

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has removed the training module “On Values in Administration” from the curriculum of State Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) raised objections about its religious bias.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury flagged the issue last month in a letter to the Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension V. Narayanasamy.

The Minister replied that the offending module had been removed. All other modules on the DoPT’s website are to be examined for objectionable content. Mr. Yechury had observed that the document — aimed at educating the government’s supervisory staff via distance-learning — made no effort to inculcate constitutional values such as equality, fundamental rights, and equity.

“Instead, the document talks about values derived from what the author calls ‘Indian Insights of Human Values,’ which then identifies such values virtually with Hindu religious texts and beliefs.” While the document’s provenance is unclear, it appears to have been prepared under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance regime. It was one of 26 modules prepared as part of a development programme — jointly undertaken by the DoPT and the United Nations — in the endeavour to strengthen State ATIs.

According to the project document, the exercise was set to begin in December 2000 and wrapped up in two years.