NEW DELHI: Taking exception to the content of distance learning module of the department of personnel and training (DoPT) that identifies human values only with Hindu religious texts, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury has written to the minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pension V Narayanasamy drawing his attention to, what he calls, the damaging nature of the content.

The CPM leader has demanded immediate withdrawal of the module.

Yechury has pointed out that the module while over-relying on Hindu religious texts makes disparaging remarks on both Sikhism and Islam "which in any case are not relevant to the subject matter: On Values in Administration." He also said, "Neither is there any mention made of the Constitution of India, the various guarantees given under it to the Indian people and what it enjoins on the government personnel." Yechury says the text also denigrates various political parties and identifies itself with the values intrinsic to erstwhile princely rulers of states. In the case of Kerala, it makes the astounding claim that all advances in Kerala have taken place due to the enlightened rule of the former Maharaja of Travancore and makes disparaging remarks about the Communists and the Communist government in Kerala (Section 3.9)!

Yechury said the objective of the distance learning module prepared by the DoPT is to teach the supervisory staff of the government but makes no effort to base the values of the administration on the Indian Constitution and constitutional values such as equality, fundamental rights, equity. Instead, Yechury wrote, the document talks about values derived from what the author calls "Indian Insights of Human Values ", which then identifies such values virtually with Hindu religious texts and beliefs.

Yechury has given a series of instances to make his point.

For instance the module says, "In the modern era, there has been much degradation in the value system, leading to all round problems" (Section 1.1 Introduction);· "We can say that there are uniform (Universal) values inbuilt in each one of us. They flow out of the highest of our own self, our ultimate holistic potential" (Section 1.3 Values);· Values for administration based on Sattwik, Rajo and Tamoshik Guna — Guna and Karma Theory (Section 2 and 3).

Yechury told Narayanasamy that module shows a "shocking bias." "Values in administration cannot be derived from some so-called inner universal values based on a Hindu outlook but the values that have been enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Any document developed for administrative personnel of the government must show how the values in the Indian Constitution must reflect in its practice and to strengthen a secular democratic Republic. Not only does the above volume not fulfill this purpose, it actually harks back to medieval values that have little to do with modern administrative values and could even be harmful to it," he wrote to the minister.