Economics professors, an archaeologist-turned-academic, a Navy veteran, and a law-trained think-tank co-founder are among the contributors to the now-withdrawn Class 8 social science textbook brought out by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
The controversial book has come under scrutiny after the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week sought accountability from the NCERT over its section titled “Corruption in the Judiciary”.
The book, which covers history, geography, political science, and “economic life around us”, lists 51 members as part of its “textbook development team”, comprising contributors, reviewers, and members providing “guidance”.
Here are the members of the textbook development team:
Guidance
Three of the five members of the “guidance” team are from the overarching National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Materials Committee (NSTC), while two are members of the National Curriculum Frameworks Oversight Committee (NOC).
Both the NSTC and the NOC were constituted by the NCERT in 2023 to develop and oversee new textbooks under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The NSTC has been tasked with developing syllabi and textbooks with the assistance of “Curricular Area Groups” for each subject, while the NOC is meant to ensure that the new textbooks align with the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023.
Mahesh Chandra Pant: Chairperson of the NSTC. Although the book lists him as Chancellor of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), his term ended in September last year.
Pant has previously served as Chairman of the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), and as Director of Education in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand (then called Uttaranchal). He holds a Master’s in Physics and has worked as a lecturer in UP and Uttaranchal. He did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Jagbir Singh: Chairperson of the NOC and Chancellor of the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda.
A former head of Delhi University’s Department of Punjabi, his university profile lists his areas of specialisation as gurbani, folklore, fiction, literary theory, and religious and civilisational studies. Singh declined to comment on the textbook controversy.
Manjul Bhargava: Co-chairperson of the NSTC and professor of Mathematics at Princeton University, USA. A Fields Medal winner in 2014, he played a role in framing both the NEP 2020 and the NCF.
Speaking to The Indian Express in September 2025, Bhargava said that India’s Viksit Bharat goal cannot be achieved if children continue to be taught “colonial history”, and that it is essential to teach them “correct” history, including awareness of India’s past achievements in science and mathematics. He has not responded to an email seeking comment over the current row.
Anurag Behar: CEO of the Azim Premji Foundation and a member of the NOC. Behar holds a degree in engineering and has worked with the committee that drafted the NEP. He declined to comment.
Gajanan Londhe: Head of the programme office of the NSTC. A former engineer, he has previously worked with multinational corporations. The book refers to him as a founding member of the Samvit Research Foundation, a not-for-profit working in the education sector. Londhe has not responded to an email seeking comment.
Curricular Area Group (CAG) Chairpersons
Michel Danino: Chairperson, Social Science CAG. He is a guest professor at IIT Gandhinagar. Danino began working with the institute in 2011, helped establish an Archaeological Sciences Centre, coordinated an Indian Knowledge Systems discipline, and offered courses such as “Perspectives on Indian Civilisation”.
Danino moved to India from France — where he studied mathematics, physics, and engineering — in 1977, and worked on texts related to Aurobindo. In his writings and lectures, he rejects the possibility of an Aryan Invasion. He authored The Lost River: On the Trail of the Sarasvati (2010). Danino said he did not wish to comment.
Sanjeev Sanyal: Chairperson, Economics CAG. He is an economist, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, and Chancellor of the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune.
“My views are well known and in the public domain. However, note that I am only involved in the economics section (as stated clearly in the textbook) and not involved in writing the chapter in discussion,” Sanyal told The Indian Express.
Sanyal has previously been critical of the Indian judiciary. Speaking at a General Counsels’ Association of India event in September last year, he said that the judicial system and the broader legal ecosystem have become the biggest hurdle to achieving Viksit Bharat. Delays in enforcing contracts and delivering verdicts, he said, pose major challenges. “The legal system really has to be fixed.”
He criticised what he described as a self-congratulatory tone in legal circles, likening the system to a “medieval guild” — a caste-like structure with internal hierarchies. “That is also true for the judiciary,” he said, adding that lower courts are not attracting the required talent. Since the judiciary is a public service, he argued, extended vacations should end. Unlike the judiciary, he noted, the entire system does not shut down when policemen or doctors take leave.
Contributors
Aasheerwad Dwivedi: Assistant Professor of Economics, Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi. He has previously taught at Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. His published work includes research on labour laws and manufacturing. He completed his MA in Economics at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, and his MPhil and PhD at JNU. Dwivedi has not responded to calls, texts, or emails seeking comment.
Alok Prasanna Kumar: Listed as a co-founder of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. A trained lawyer, he said he would prefer not to comment on the textbook. He added that he joined the textbook development team after stepping down from his role at Vidhi with effect from April 30, 2025.
In a 2022 article in the Economic and Political Weekly, he wrote on the judiciary and the collegium system, arguing for “a more transparently and efficiently appointed, diverse set of judges”. He stated that the failings of the collegium system cannot be addressed by reverting to a prior, discredited system giving the Union government a predominant role, nor by resurrecting the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). What is needed, he wrote, is greater focus on the “how” of judicial appointments rather than just the “who”.
Johnson Odakkal: A retired Commodore of the Indian Navy, he is the founder of Johnson Odakkal Initiatives, which provides coaching, career guidance, and thought leadership. Two other individuals associated with the organisation — a research assistant and an operations associate — are also listed among the book’s contributors.
Odakkal, also a former Director of the Maritime History Society, said it would not be appropriate to comment as the matter is sub-judice. He added that contributors across grades 6-8 worked to provide balanced learning content for 12- to 14-year-olds, covering positive aspects, challenges, flaws, and solutions across a wide range of areas.
M V Srinivasan: Professor of Economics, Department of Education in Social Sciences, NCERT. He also heads NCERT’s publication division. He declined to comment on the issue.
In a 2019 research review article in the NCERT’s Indian Educational Review, Srinivasan wrote that while vigilance by civil society and the media regarding curriculum revision is welcome in a democracy, it also poses challenges in introducing innovations and incorporating the latest developments in social science knowledge domains.
V N Prabhakar: Associate Professor, Earth Sciences, IIT Gandhinagar. He previously worked as an archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). His published work includes journal articles on Harappan sites and archaeology. In 2021, Danino, Prabhakar, and five others co-authored a journal article on the Ghaggar-Hakra channel in the Harappan age. Prabhakar has not responded to an email seeking comment.
Diya Devare: Assistant Professor of Economics, Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, Pune. She holds a PhD in Economics from the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. Devare has not responded to calls, texts, or emails seeking comment.
The remaining contributors include four consultants with the NSTC, an independent scholar, a young professional (EAC-PM) at NITI Aayog, and an educator at a private school in Gurgaon.
Reviewers
In addition to the 22 individuals listed as contributors, CAG chairpersons, or members providing guidance, the team includes 27 reviewers and two member coordinators from the NCERT.
The reviewers include 19 faculty members from the NCERT’s Department of Education in Social Sciences; an Associate Professor from the Department of English at the University of Kashmir; the Director-Principal and teachers from a private school in Gurgaon; an author and retired Surgeon Commander who served in the Indian Navy; and a representative from an organisation that offers educational tours and study programmes across different parts of the world.
The earlier NCERT Class 8 social science textbooks, published in 2008, were developed by teams headed by historian Hari Vasudevan. The political science textbook had Sarada Balagopalan, then at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), as Chief Advisor. The panel included advocate Vrinda Grover and Professor Rajeev Bhargava at CSDS.
The history textbook had Neeladri Bhattacharya, then Professor of History at JNU, as Chief Advisor. The team included historians Tanika Sarkar and Tapati Guha-Thakurta.