NEW DELHI: The University Grant Commission (UGC) has advised the Universities to incorporate the followings in the university curriculum:
(I) (i) Novels/Short stories from the North East;
(ii) History of North East including personalities who participated in anti-colonial uprisings as well as freedom movement;
(II) Students from the other part of the country to spend some time in the North East so as to understand and appreciate culture of the area. Besides, regular cultural exchange between institutions in the North East and other areas be built in higher education system in the universities; and
(III) The North East Zone Cultural Centre, an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture also organizes various programmes under its scheme namely, National Cultural Exchange Programme (NCEP) for awareness about the culture of the North Eastern Region.
Content about various aspects of the North Eastern Region have already been included in the textbooks of Social Sciences such as History, Geography and Political Science published by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) viz History classes-VII,IX,X and XII, Geography classes: VI to XII, Political Science classes: VI,VIII to XII.
This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani in a written reply to the Lok Sabha question.