The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has responded to concerns over the newly launched Kannada Class 6 textbook “Krishna” after an education rights group in Karnataka accused it of promoting religious themes and ignoring the state’s cultural identity.NCERT said in a statement that all its language textbooks are named after rivers in India. It clarified that the Kannada textbook was named Krishna after the Krishna, one of the major rivers flowing through Karnataka.The committee noted that its Hindi textbook is called Ganga, English textbook is called Kaveri and Urdu textbook is called Jamuna. “Similarly, the Kannada textbook has been named ‘Krishna’ as it is one of the major rivers flowing through Karnataka,” NCERT said.The People’s Alliance for Fundamental Rights in Education (PAFRE) claimed that the name reflected an attempt to introduce religious themes into school education and demanded that the textbook be withdrawn from the syllabus for the current academic year.NCERT also responded to criticism related to nutrition classes. The group claimed that the chapter only included vegetarian food as part of a balanced diet, excluding foods such as fish, eggs and meat, which are widely consumed in Karnataka.Refuting the allegation, NCERT said the concept of balanced diet is introduced in Chapter 6 of the textbook and discussed separately on page 63 under the heading ‘Balanced Diet’. The illustrations on the page include both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food items, it added.“Nowhere in the textbooks is vegetarianism explained or justified, nor is there any objection to non-vegetarian food,” the committee said.PAFRE had earlier argued that the textbook ignored Karnataka’s diverse food culture and cultural traditions. The group also questioned why the book was named Krishna instead of being associated with the famous Kannada literary and social reform figure. It has called for the textbook to be withdrawn, renamed and revised.Recently, the iconic “Dancing Girl” of Mohenjodaro, one of the most famous artifacts of the Indus Valley Civilization, appeared in NCERT’s new Class 9 art textbook in an altered form, with its traditionally naked torso visually obscured, sparking a debate over its representation.