(a) whether the Government is contemplating to rewrite certain facets of Indian history;
(b) if so, the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is creating a database of all historians in a bid to keep tabs on trends in historical research and teaching at universities across the country; and
(d) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons and purpose for creating such database?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a) No, Madam.
(b) Does not arise.
(c)&(d) According to the Memorandum of Association of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) (1972), one of the objectives of the ICHR includes inter alia “to maintain a National Register of research workers in history and their fields of specialization”. As per the information furnished by the ICHR, ICHR has initiated a State of the Discipline Survey in History for surveying and assessing the state of history teaching and research in India to compile a database of teachers and researchers engaged in Universities/Colleges working in different areas of history. The purpose of the scheme is to enable easy contact of scholars in a specialized area, to easily identify experts and avoid repetition in research and to gather information to survey the state of the discipline of history in India. The details of the scheme are available on the website of ICHR at www.ichr.ac.in.