Textbook shocker: Maha Education Minister directs Board of Studies to make correction

Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde on Friday said that he has consulted the Board of Studies with regard to the shocking content in a state textbook that cited 'ugliness' as one of the reason for dowry menace and directed them to make correction.

Asserting that politics and academics should not be mixed, Tawde said that he has never interfered in academic matters.

"Regarding 12th sociology issue, I contacted the SSC board chairman and I inquired that this topic has been included in the syllabus four year ago when we were not in power," said Tawde.

"But I have asked the Board of Studies to go through the objections, which have been raised by the media and get the necessary correction done," he added.

Maharashtra State Education Board raked up a controversy over a Class 12 sociology textbook that lists "ugliness of the girl" as the reason for parents forcing to pay dowry to get them married.

The text appears in a chapter in the sociology textbook titled 'Major Social Problems in India' of the Maharashtra Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board.

"If a girl is ugly and handicapped, it becomes very difficult for her to get married. To marry her, the girl's bridegroom and his family demand more dowry. The helpless parents of such girls are then forced to pay up." the textbook says.