The Modi-led government in India has been contemplating a monumental change – altering the country s official name to Bharat. This shift gained traction as official G20 dinner invitations bore the title President of Bharat instead of the traditional President of India. The implications of this move sparked a multifaceted debate in 2023, transcending political lines.
There is no difference between India and Bharat, says education ministry in the Parliament today. The minister was answering questions regarding the name change from India to Bharat by NCERT.
Professor CI Issac, chairperson of the NCERT committee on social sciences, says, “The people, who have opposition to the suggestion, have changed the name of Madras to Chennai and Trivandrum to Thiruvananthapuram. They want to change Kerala to Keralam, but when we say Bharat, why do they have a problem?”
NCERT has revealed that there are no concrete decisions about changing the name of ‘India’ to ‘Bharat’ in the school textbooks of all classes across the country.