Vasudev Devnani is an Indian politician from

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

belonging to the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

. He was the Minister of State for School Education Independent Charge Government of Rajasthan, serving as its "RSS face," after the

Hindu nationalist Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" or the correct term ''Hindū rāṣṭ ...

organisation

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...

(RSS) of which he is a member.

Life and career

Vasudev Devnani was born in

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...

on 11 January 1950. He received

B.E. A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...

degree in Electrical Engineering from one of the finest and oldest colleges, MBM Engineering college, Jodhpur. After that he went on to an academic career, eventually becoming the Dean of Vidhya Bhawan Polytechnic College in

Udaipur Udaipur () (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic capit ...

. He is married to Indira Devnani, a retired school teacher. The couple have one son and two daughters.Famous Sindhi Educationist & Politician: Prof. Vasudev Devnani
Sundu World, retrieved 2015-04-05.

Political career

Devnani joined the

(RSS) at a young age and later its student wing

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) () is a right-wing all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). History The ABVP, founded in 1948 with the initiative of the RSS ...

(ABVP), serving as the Rajasthan state president of the latter for nine years. Subsequently, he joined the

(BJP). Devnani was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan from the Ajmer North constituency in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, obtaining 45% of the total votes. He was elected again in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

.My Bio-data: Vasudev Devnani
Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, retrieved 2015-04-05. He was a Minister of State for technical education in the Ministry of

Vasundhara Raje Vasundhara Raje Scindia (born 8 March 1953) is an Indian politician, who has held two terms as the chief minister of Rajasthan. She was previously a minister in the Union Cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and was India's first Minister of Micro, ...

in 2003-08. He was a Minister of State with an independent charge for primary and secondary education in the Ministry of

in 2013-18.Rajasthan Government - Council of Ministers
Rajasthan Government, retrieved 2015-04-05.Raje's will writ large on expansion, detractors cut to size
The Times of India, 28 October 2014.

Political and administrative views

According to

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

, he is striking a balance between modernity, essential reforms and the BJP agenda of Hindu culture-based education.Who is this saffron but progressive face of Raje government
India Today, 4 February 2015. Among his

saffronisation ''Saffronisation'' or ''saffronization'' is the right-wing policy approach that seeks to implement a Hindu nationalist agenda, for example onto school textbooks. Critics have used this political neologism to refer to the policies of Hindu natio ...

measures are celebrating

Basant Panchami Vasant Panchami, also called Saraswati Puja in honor of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, is a festival that marks the preparation for the arrival of spring. The festival is celebrated in Indian religions in different ways depending on the region. ...

in schools, singing Saraswati vandana and performing

surya namaskar Sun Salutation, also called Surya Namaskar(a) or Salute to the Sun (), is a practice in yoga as exercise incorporating a flow sequence of some twelve gracefully linked asanas. The asana sequence was first recorded as yoga in the early 20th centu ...

every day. He plans to introduce Rajasthan heroes such as

Maharana Pratap Pratap Singh I, popularly known as Maharana Pratap (c. 9 May 1540 – 19 January 1597), was a king of Mewar from the Sisodia dynasty. Pratap became a folk hero for his military resistance against the expansionism of the Mughal Empire under A ...

in the school textbooks, correcting the alleged "anti-Hindu agenda" of the previous

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

government. 186 new Model Schools are being named after

Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introd ...

. Despite being the "RSS face" in the Vasundhara Raje government, India Today believed he was exhibiting great political and administrative skill in ensuring that the saffron moves do not overshadow the real task of improving the education system. However, his measures to introduce compulsory Saraswati puja and surya namaskar have invited opposition from the schools run by the

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sanny ...

, Muslim community and the Christian missionaries.Govt and private schools to observe Saraswati puja on Basant Panchami
The Times of India, 24 January 2015.Surya Namaskar made compulsory in 48,000 schools in Rajasthan
The Times of India, 4 February 2015. Devnani declared that the "Indian value system" would be introduced in schools from 2015-16. He called for a National Education Regulatory Board for the fast implementation of the Indian value system in schools nationwide.Yoga, moral science to be taught in schools from next year: Minister
The Times of India, 19 January 2015. In April 2015, Devnani hit the headlines with stories that reported that

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samos, Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionians, Ionian Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher and the eponymou ...

and

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

are being eliminated from the school textbooks.Akbar, Newton may make way for ‘local heroes’ in Rajasthan textbooks
Indian Express, 7 April 2015.
Firstpost, 7 April 2015. "Why should our children only learn about Akbar, the Great? Why not Maharana Pratap, the Great?" he reportedly asked. "Our children are constantly learning about foreign rulers, mathematicians, scientists et al." These "foreign" scientists and intellectuals are being eliminated in favour of "local and national" heroes,

Veer Savarkar Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (), Marathi pronunciation: �inaːjək saːʋəɾkəɾ also commonly known as Veer Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966), was an Indian politician, activist, and writer. Savarkar developed the Hindu nationalis ...

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary* * who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer * * in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationa ...

Maharaja Suraj Mal Suraj Mal (13 February 1707 – 25 December 1763) was a Jat ruler of Bharatpur in present-day state of Rajasthan. Under him, the Jat rule covered the present-day districts of Agra, Aligarh, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Etawa, Hathras, Mainpuri, ...

Aryabhata Aryabhata (ISO: ) or Aryabhata I (476–550 CE) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer of the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. He flourished in the Gupta Era and produced works such as the ''Aryabhatiya'' (which ...

and Bhaskaracharya. In March 2016, Devnani announced that "major changes" were being made in the school curriculum, by including the biographies of freedom fighters, so as to ensure that "no one like

Kanhaiya Kumar Kanhaiya Kumar is an Indian political activist who served as the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union and leader of the All India Students Federation (AISF). He served as National Executive Council member of Communi ...

" would be born again. In view of the events at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, he said that it was necessary to inculcate a "feeling of patriotism" in the students.

is the JNU student union president, who was arrested on

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

charges over a controversial event where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devnani, Vasudev 1948 births Living people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Rajasthan Rajasthani people Rajasthan MLAs 2013–2018 Rajasthan MLAs 2003–2008 Rajasthan MLAs 2008–2013 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members People from Ajmer Rajasthan MLAs 2018–2023

Life and career

Political career

Political and administrative views

See also

References