The Congress-ruled Karnataka government has decided to revise textbooks across the state by reintroducing works from several “progressive” authors who have made their way back to the Kannada textbooks from the 2024-25 academic year onwards.

These authors include Girish Karnad, P Lankesh, Devanur Mahadeva, Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy and Nagesh Hegde, among several others, The Hindu reported.

As per the details, Girish Karnad’s ‘Adhikara’, P. Lankesh’s ‘Mruga Mattu Sundari’, Devanuru Mahadeva’s ‘Edege Bidda Akshara’, Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy’s ‘Samudra Chumbana’, Chandrashekara Kambara’s ‘Seemi’, Akkamahadevi’s Vachanas, Devidasa’s ‘Chakragrahana’, Mariyappa Bhatta’s ‘Namma Bhaashe’, KV Tirumalesh and VG Bhat’s children’s poems, and an article by Nagesh Hegde have been included in Kannada language textbooks.

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In the circular, the government gave approval for revised textbooks for Kannada I language from classes 1 to 10, Kannada III language for classes 9 and 10, and Social Science for classes 6 to 10 from the academic year 2024-25.

The panel, headed by retired professor Manjunath G Hegde, has made recommendations, and changes have been made to 114 textbooks – 44 Kannada language books and 70 Social Science books.

Notably, the committee has not batted for the lessons on Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali that were earlier deleted.

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Furthermore, the social science textbook has been revised, keeping in mind the Constitution, gender sensitivity, information on child rights, and the democratic and secular values of the country.

The revision, now set for printing, also includes changes to titles and various chapters: ‘Religions’ has been changed to ‘Dharmas’, and more information was added to the Sanatana Dharma chapter, India Today reported.