NEW DELHI: Former cabinet secretary and head of committee to evolve the new National Education Policy (NEP), T S R Subramanian, says he does not understand the word saffronisation of education neither has he met Dinanath Batra of Shiksha Bachao Andolan, an RSS outfit.“Please explain to me what the word saffronisation means? Does it mean saffron school uniform?” Subramanian asked, when told about apprehensions in some quarters about the possible direction of new NEP.In a free-wheeling discussion with TOI on NEP, Subramanian said the committee is getting all kinds of views. “Some say government schools are not needed, some have suggested why future schools should be without the boundary of classrooms. We have heard everyone. But we cannot go back to gurukul of 2000 years ago. We have to consider the changes country has undergone in the last 70 years.” However, Subramanian says, “Children should be taught basic values of being selfless, honesty and cleanliness. They must have pride in India just like an American child has in his country. We value Indianness.”On Batra, Subramanian said, “Without being condescending I want to know who is Mr Batra . I have never met him. People keep asking me about him.”Batra and Shiksha Bachao Andolan have been leading the demand to change UPA era textbooks. Batra had also filed the law suit that eventually led to the pulping of Wendy Doniger’s book ‘The Hindus’.Dismissing allegations by few eminent educationists that the committee has not interacted with them, Subramanian said, “HRD ministry went out of the way to reach out. We have reached out to people through word of contact. Even now people are coming. We want as many diverse views as possible. They should come to me.”Subramanian said more themes have emerged apart from 33 that were decided by the government. Some implicit themes have become explicit. For instance, a theme like financing has various elements that needs to be explained in detail. “Similarly pedagogy also needs serious explanation as it is a big theme and has various aspects to it,” he said, adding that the committee will submit its report before February end.Emphatic that the new policy, as it comes after 30 years, will have new elements, Subramanian said, “There is so much glamour for degrees. We have unemployable graduates. Non-graduates need to be trained in skills so that they become employable.”