NCERT Revises Class 8 Social Science Book: Partition Chapter Updated, Hitler References Removed, Judiciary Content Rewritten

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has revised the Class 8 Social Science textbook after it was directed by the Supreme Court to withdraw the previous version. The book has been updated to include changes on Partition of India, elimination of Adolf Hitler's name from the section on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, judiciary chapter rewritten, and several changes for students of the current academic year, 2026-27.

NCERT has released the revised edition of its Class 8 Social Science textbook months after it was pulled due to controversy for its earlier edition, with major modifications in the chapters on history, civics, and judiciary.

The new book "Exploring Society: India and Beyond" discards the material that was criticised earlier this year and adds new descriptions around citizenship, discrimination and the judiciary.

NCERT updates Class 8 chapter on India's Partition

One of the biggest changes appears in the chapter "India's Long Road to Independence." The revised textbook also asserts that the Partition was "largely resisted" and that the Indian National Congress was against it, as is also the case with the idea of accepting Partition as a choice, which is no longer claimed to be settled.

In the previous version it had been written that most of the Congress leaders and Mahatma Gandhi were against Partition but later agreed to it as the only solution. The second sentence that read Congress leaders had nothing to do with it as communal violence erupted during Partition has also been removed.

The revised chapter further adds that V.D. Savarkar had raised the demand for Swaraj in 1925, expanding the discussion on India's freedom movement.

References to Adolf Hitler removed from Netaji Bose section

The chapter on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose has been updated by NCERT. The previous book discussed Bose's efforts to enlist the support of Adolf Hitler to raise an army and introduced him to Hitler's Nazi ideology and its responsibility for the outbreak of the Second World War. The changed version has eliminated these references, and the revised version now says that Bose asked the anti-British groups for assistance.

Judiciary chapter rewritten after Supreme Court order 

The chapter “The role of the Judiciary in Society” has been retouched according to the instructions of the Supreme Court.

The previous version had caused controversy with regard to a passage on corruption in the judiciary. Following the case brought to the Supreme Court, both paper and e-versions of the book were removed.

The updated chapter eliminates mention of judicial backlog and two big court rulings. Instead, it brings in new material covering the origins of:

• Public Interest Litigation (PIL)
• Tribunals
• Alternative dispute resolution processes

The revision in the chapter has been done by an expert committee set up by the Union Ministry of Education and as per the Supreme Court order, NCERT has said.

Economic background added to definition of discrimination

The updated civics chapter "Citizenship: Rights and Duties" lists economic background as one of the areas where discrimination may take place.

According to the textbook, discrimination can happen based on any of the following factors: caste, religion, ethnicity, disability, race, physical appearance, gender, sexuality and/or economic background. It also makes it clear that children from poor economic backgrounds have the potential of being treated unfairly and prejudiced against.

NCERT updates NCERT development team

The acknowledgements have also been updated. In the new edition, the judiciary chapter is rewritten by a new committee of experts. The revised textbook does not contain three names (Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar, and Alok Prasanna Kumar) that used to be on the earlier development team.

New NCERT books being introduced under NEP

The NCERT officials stated that almost all the revised textbooks for classes 1 to 9 have been released, which have been prepared as per National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.

Officials added that:

• Textbooks for Classes 1-8 are available in both print and digital formats.
• Two books for class 9 are expected till August 2026.
• The new books for Classes 10 and 11 will be introduced from the 27-28 academic year and the existing books will be followed this year.

The updated Class 8 Social Science textbook is a part of the ongoing implementation of the National education policy (NEP) 2020 and the revised National Curriculum Framework (NCF).