Madhya Pradesh could soon join the list of states to introduce Bhagavad Gita as part of the academic curriculum in their schools or colleges. The MP government is reported to be mulling the introduction of Bhagavad Gita as an elective subject for second-year students across 1,360 colleges from the next academic year.
An official of Madhya Pradesh’s higher education department’s syllabus committee told Hindustan Times that the subject will just have shlokas and their translation but also examples of personalities who benefited from adopting the teachings of the Gita. The official added that courses are being designed to make “students mentally strong”.
MP’s higher education minister Mohan Yadav said that the plan to teach Gita is aimed at inculcating management and ethics amongst the students.
The minister added that the plan to introduce Bhagavad Gita in colleges was in complete sync with the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020. “Under the New Education Policy, students should get modern education as well as learn about the rich Indian history. The Gita and the Ramayana are not only religious books but teach us values of life,” Yadav said.
Earlier, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Sing Chouhan had also hinted at plans of introducing the Gita in school and college curriculums.
The MP government also plans to introduce the work of philosopher Chanakya as an elective subject in the third year of college.
Last year, the BJP government in the state introduced Tulsidas’ Shri Ramcharitmanas, an epic poem narrating the story of Lord Ram, and Sanskrit Karmkand Vidhan, as an elective subject in the first year of college.
The state’s Bhoj Open University introduced courses on Jain religion, Ved Shastra, Ramayana, and Mahabharat. However, the subjects received a cold reception from students and only 100 enrolled for the one-year diploma in the Ramayana at the varsity.
Gujarat was the first state to introduce Bhagavad Gita in its school syllabus. The state introduced Bhagavad Gita in classes 6 to 10 syllabi as an attempt to inculcate Indian culture and knowledge system in the school education.
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