GUWAHATI, Sept 25 - Leader of Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly Debabrata Saikia today urged Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to instruct the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) to retain certain chapters pertaining to the policies and contributions of India�s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru which have been dropped by the council from the curriculum for Class-XI and Class-XII in view of its COVID-19-induced course downsizing.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, Saikia stated that any move to ease the workload of students is welcome in the abnormal situation created by Covid-19. He, however, pointed out that the choice of chapters dropped from the curriculum was questionable.
Some of the chapters removed from the course for the current academic session include nation building policies of Pandit Nehru, his foreign policy and the �Garibi Hatao� campaign initiated by another former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Saikia asserted that Pandit Nehru continues to garner global respect for spearheading the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War. Even political opponents like Bharat Ratna Atal Behari Vajpayee and incumbent Defence Minister Rajnath Singh publicly acknowledged Pandit Nehru�s unparalleled contribution to nation building and nurturing of democratic values, he added.
