Ever since the BJP came to power in Rajasthan, the Sangh Parivar has quietly but purposefully moved to give a saffron tinge to education in the state. And what better way of doing this than to introduce works of, RSS ideologues and supporters in school and college textbooks.

Take forintance the Class IX Hindi textbook of schools under the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education. While RSS chief Rajendra Singh has written on ancient Indian science and scientist, his deputy K.C. Sudarshan extols traditional Indian wisdom in his article on the earth and the environment.

There is more. A piece by the editor of RSS organ Panchjanya, Tarun Vijay, another by Swadeshi Jagaran Manch leader Jalam Singh Rawlot, and lastly, a poem by RSS worker Gajendra Singh Solanki.

At a senior level, RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay finds place in the Class XI syllabus on Political Thought. But work by Muslim thinkers are curiously missing, a trend which continues in college. Even at the post-graudate level, the Sangh Parivar hasn't identified a single Muslim scholar for its syllabus on Modern Indian Political Thought.

More deletions, and all indicative of the Sangh Parivar's intentions. Last year, the Board of Secondary Education removed a chapter from the Class XII text that dealt with the Sikar Kisan Andolan which is about Jats taking up cudgels against Rajput feudal lords.

And it was only after its alliance with the Akalis, that the State Government deemed it fit to suitably tailor the contents of a chapter on Akalis which described them as "a communal and separatist outfit fanning terrorism". For the 1998-99 academic session, such references have been removed.

That control over education and information ranks high in the Sangh parivar's priority is evident from the fact that senior leaders with a strong RSS background are put in charge of key ministries and departments. Not surprisingly, the convenor of the Board of Studies – it decides on the university syllabus - is Madhukar Shyam Chaturvedi, a close associate of the RSS. As for schools, Gopeshwar Dayal Mathur heads the Rajasthan Secondary Education Board and he is also a staunch RSS man.

"There is no grand conspiracy", Chaturvedi insists. Denying that the Board of Studies is constituted by the Universirty or the Government, he says, "It is a body elected by the faulty" ... Also, the syllabus prepared by the Board is scrutinised by the Faculty and has to be approved by the Academic Councila nd the Syndicate, he adds.

As for introducing RSS thinkers in the school curriculum, State Minister for Education Gulabchand Kataria says discussions had been held with the school syllabus committee about eight or nine months ago, and they have been included from this session.

Chaturvedi denies any controversy over university courses ... "There was some protest over inclusion of Deen Dayal Upadhyay in the school board, but the criticism is  unjstified. After all, he represents a school of thought", he pointed out, adding that "we still teach" Jinnah and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in universities.