Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan Launches Textbook on Introduction to Indian Knowledge System*
New Delhi: Union Minister of Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched a textbook on Indian Knowledge System (IKS) written by Dr. B. Mahadevan, an IIM Bangalore Professor, Dr. Vinayak Rajat Bhat and Dr. Nagendra Pavana R.N in association with SVYASA, Bangalore and Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Ernakulam on May 16, 2022.
The All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE) has introduced a mandatory course on Indian Knowledge Systems (lKS) under its model curriculum in 2018.
MoE Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said, “IKS is based on the ethos and the very idea of India instilled by the Gurus of this great civilisation. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, there has been a paradigm shift in the Indian education system with the inclusion of innovations in technical education.”
Shri Subhash Sarkar, Union Minister of Stste for Education, said, “The book seeks to introduce the epistemology and ontology of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) to Engineering and Science students in a way they can relate, appreciate and explore further, should there be a keen interest in the matter.”
Author Dr. B. Mahadevan, said, “the book, Introduction to Indian Knowledge Systems: Concepts and Applications, targeted at students of engineering and those in higher education institutions, is a culmination of efforts of the authors to fill the gap for offering a required course on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), recently mandated by AICTE.”
Moreover, the New Education Policy (NEP) has also provided a clear trajectory for imparting IKS in the higher education curriculum, necessitating a book of this kind in several higher education institutions in the country in the days to come.
” In the age of AI, ML and Blockchain, the study of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) may at first sound odd, but technical institutes are going all out to embrace traditional learning systems through elective credit courses. IKS was being offered as a non-credit course in academic institutions for the last three years.
Reviving the vast repository of ancient knowledge, these courses can instil pride in our youth with their inclusion in mainstream education,” says Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairperson, AICTE.