Recently, India’s University Grants Commission (UGC) released guidelines to frame the syllabus of the proposed new four-year undergraduate degree courses. The objective of the proposal is to mainstream India’s intellectual traditions, philosophical inheritance, and political philosophy into higher education. Yet, looking closely, there appears to be a more serious concern — an attempt to replace the spirit of rational inquiry and constitutional values with glorification of myths and ideological propaganda.
The proposal clearly states that mythical ideals and narratives of cultural pride will be embedded across disciplines, including political science, sociology, commerce and even chemistry. Commerce students will learn about Rama Rajya as a model for equitable governance under the rubric of corporate social responsibility. Students studying political science will read V.D. Savarkar’s The Indian War of Independence as one of the nine essential texts dealing with the freedom movement. Deendayal Upadhyaya and other thinkers from the Hindutva camp will also find themselves included in the canon of modern political thought.
Numerous ancient Indian thinkers—Vyasa, Manu, Kautilya, Narada—will be featured as sources of eternal wisdom. Modules on “Chemistry in the Vedic Age” will combine a range of Ayurvedic traditions, the idea of the atom, and even Kundalini energy with modern atomic theory and nuclear spectra.
A special chapter, The Idea of Bharat, will examine philosophical and political thought from the Vedic period to the present. However, it will have a distinct emphasis on spiritual and cultural developments rather than materialist or scientific developments.
On the surface, it may seem uncontroversial. After all, India’s intellectual traditions have long and deep historical roots spanning thousands of years. But the way that the UGC guidelines represent all this development raises serious issues with academic rigour, ideological neutrality, and the intentions behind higher education in a constitutional democracy.
The most concerning issue is the conflation of mythology and science. The comparisons of Kundalini energy with atomic spectra and the assumption that the concept of the atom, as it appears in Vedic texts, is analogous to modern atomic theory indicate a flagrant disregard for the development of the scientific inquiry, a centuries-long model of critical thinking that includes hypothesis, experimentation, and falsifiability, which is distinct from metaphysics.
Ayurveda’s past contributions to health and wellness warrant consideration. However, treating Ayurveda as the same as modern analytical chemistry may become a source of confusion between knowledge and pride in one’s civilisation. Universities are places to foster capacity-building for evidence-based reasoning and general inquiry, not places to convert students into mere recipients of cultural reminiscences.
Under Article 51A(h), the Constitution of India clearly states that it is a fundamental duty “to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.” However, the proposed guidelines of the UGC are likely to promote the opposite outcome. By introducing mythological ideals like “Rama Rajya” as a curriculum for commerce and spirituality into science classes, universities can produce only graduates devoid of critical thinking.
Equally disturbing is the selective importance given to political thinkers and traditions. The syllabus offers a special place for the likes of V.D. Savarkar and Deendayal Upadhyaya as ideologues serving Hindu nationalism while sidelining liberal and pluralist voices that moulded modern India.
Nehru is mentioned but merely as a socialist, whereas important reformers like Periyar or scientists like Sir Homi Bhabha and Meghnad Saha, who introduced rationalism and secular education, are not recognised. This confirms the suspicion that higher education is sought to be straightjacketed into a majoritarian cultural narrative.
The new higher education must equip students to embrace a world shaped by science, technology, and evidence-based policymaking, rather than romanticising pre-modern ideals of governance or science. The notion that mythological ideas can supplant policy or that a new civilisation can emerge from civilisational pride is misleading.
Academic freedom is one of the victims of this type of curriculum. When the UGC requires universities to promote a specific cultural and political narrative—based largely on extra-scientific methodology—the scope for dissent, academic debate, and diverse opinions is curtailed. Higher education is fostered by the spirit of enquiry, healthy clash of ideas and assumptions, not indoctrination and civilisational pride.
Additionally, if mythologies take precedence over science or ideals replace academic work, the credibility of Indian universities, already reeling under low global rankings, will erode even further. This will inevitably place Indian students at a disadvantage while competing at the global level.
India’s intellectual heritage is indeed deep and extensive enough to merit study. However, it should be undertaken with academic rigour and historical contextualisation. Ancient texts should be examined in parallel with modern scientific revelations; spiritual traditions should be examined as cultural history and not as replacements for empirical knowledge. Political ideas must engage with India’s remarkable heterogeneity—Tagore, Ambedkar, Gandhi, Nehru, Savarkar, Lohia, etc.—and not a hidebound ideological tradition.
Above all, universities must avoid the impulse to romanticise the past. The objective of higher education is not to produce pride in students but rather to develop the critical judgment needed to prepare them for the roles of democratic citizens, scientists, and ethical reasoners in a complex world.
The UGC’s proposed syllabus threatens the goals already outlined. If approved and implemented, the UGC will trade scientific temper and national integrity with myth glorification—a trade that Democratic India’s universities (and democracy) can ill afford.
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