BANGALORE: BC Nagesh, the education minister for Karnataka, announced on Monday that the state is considering starting to teach the Bhagavad Gita in schools and colleges all over the state from this academic year.

Nagesh made the announcement while replying to a query during the Assembly session. "We are thinking of starting to teach the Bhagavad Gita this academic year. It will be covered in a moral science course. The debate is still ongoing. We'll convene a committee and make a decision soon, he said.

M. K. Pranesh, a BJP MLC, brought up the issue. He queried: "Government says,  there is no plan to introduce Bhagavad Gita lessons to schoolchildren in Karnataka. The Bhagavad Gita is not being taught by the government, why? Why did the government lose its interest after making statements earlier?" When the statement was made earlier, a number of minority groups and people opposed it, which is expected to spark controversy. The Bhagavad Gita will be adopted in Karnataka in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP), similar to the state of Gujarat, after consulting educational experts, Nagesh said.

The Bhagavad Gita will be taught in schools as a component of the moral science course, said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Minister for Large and Medium Industries Murugesh Nirani has said that Bhagavad Gita has human values and children need to learn about those values. He had said that the government of Karnataka should decide to introduce children to the Bhagavad Gita, just as the government of Gujarat had done.

Tanveer Sait, a senior member of the Congress and a former minister from Mysuru, sparked debate over the weekend when he said that adding the Bhagavad Gita to the curriculum "is more harmful than the Covid epidemic." The state government's proposal was questioned by former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who also said that teaching the Bhagavad Gita wouldn't feed people's tummies.

"The Bhagavad Gita's lessons won't solve the state's many issues or give them food. In the nation, emotional issues are becoming more significant.  

Leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah said: "We appreciate all religions equally and adhere to the Hindu religion. Teaching children the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, or the Quran is not anything we oppose to. However, children should receive a quality  education."

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