New Delhi: On Saturday, students of B.Com third year at Lucknow University were given a question paper that was probably meant for BJP spokespersons.In the ‘Indian Economic Structure’ paper, the first question, which accounts for 40% of the total marks, asked students to explain schemes like Digital India, Startup India, etc. launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.In another question, the students were asked to explain the steps taken by the Modi government to develop employment opportunities in India for 15 marks.“We are not politicians, we aren’t concerned with who is in power,” said Prof. RS Maheshwari, head of the department of applied economics at Lucknow University, claiming that the questions should not be seen in a political light. He claimed that the university wants its students to be aware of what’s happening in the country.“Our objective is to make sure students don’t just have bookish knowledge,” he added.This isn’t the first time a BJP-ruled state has tried to test students’ knowledge of schemes launched by the government.In 2016, one of the objective questions posed in the Madhya Pradesh civil services exam, read: “The Swachch Bharat campaign led by the honourable Prime Minister has a great impact on the society because 1) People understood the importance of cleanliness, and 2) People across the country like the campaign.”The options for the answer were a) Assumption 1 is strong, b) Assumption 2 is strong, c) Both assumptions are strong, and d) Neither of the assumptions are strong.“I immediately circled option (c) as the answer to the question. It appeared as if the MPPSC was carrying out a loyalty test on candidates. I had no option because picking any other would have meant that I disapproved of Modi’s ambitious campaign,” a candidate told Hindustan Times.Another question in the same paper read: The objective of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna is/are….. a) Connecting villages to main road, b) Constructing concrete road, c) Both are correct, and d) None of the above.Meanwhile, students appearing for the civil services preliminary examination in June 2017 were asked similar questions on GST, benami transactions and schemes run by the Central government.Students were asked: “What is/are the most likely advantages of implementing Goods and Services Tax?” The option for students to choose the correct answers included: “It will enormously increase the growth and size of economy of India and will enable it to overtake China in the near future”.The second option was “It will drastically reduce the Current Account Deficit (CAD) of India and will enable it to increase its foreign exchange reserve”.The third option given in the first paper of the test was “It will replace multiple taxes collected by multiple authorities and will thus create a single market in India”.Meanwhile, new social science textbooks in Rajasthan glorify all BJP schemes as ‘revolutionary’ and claim that the Congress wanted to prolong British rule.The textbook question on the sabka saath, sabka Vikas slogan.‘Who gave the slogan of sabka saath, sabka vikas?’, ‘What all has been done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve relations with Pakistan?’, ‘During his Nepal visit, how did Modi assure Nepal?’, ‘What was the reason behind implementing demonetisation?’, ‘Name four development programs of the Modi government,’ ‘What was the contribution of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in the freedom struggle?’ are a few of the questions in the revised Class 10 and 12 textbooks of the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE).In class 12 books, demonetisation is referred to as ‘kaale dhan ki safai‘ and it is said that non-vegetarian food harms the body, claims class 10 book. Meanwhile, all references to Jawaharlal Nehru have been dropped from the textbooks for class 8 students.One such incident left the Modi government red-faced when some over-enthusiastic bhakt, who set the question paper for the class tenth students in Jaipur, framed a question full of spelling errors.Credit: Indian Express“Modi served as the Chief Minister of Gujrat for the four terms… As a spoker he is known as a craod-puller. He is the most sovy political leader of India.” The students were expected to read a paragraph glorifying the prime minister and answer questions about his life, reported the Indian Express.Teachers and students at Banaras Hindu University claim that “Hindutva views are being forced on them“. In December 2017, topics such Padmavati, jauhar, triple talaq and GST showed up in question papers for post-graduate students of political science and history.“This has been the cultural ethos of BHU for years. After the [BJP-led NDA] formed government, those who pushed that [Hindutva] ideology have become bolder. It is that simple,” a BHU professor told Scroll.He added, “I am just glad it is finally being exposed and discussed.”
