India, June 25 -- The NCERT has, for the first time, introduced a reference to the 1975 Emergency in India in its Class 9 textbook, more than five decades after it was imposed by then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

In the reference, the Emergency has been flagged as "one of the major challenges" faced by the Indian democracy, with a majority of fundamental rights being suspended. The topic has been included in the NCERT's newly developed Social Science textbook, titled 'Understanding Society: India and Beyond'.

In this, the Emergency has been added in a chapter which examines the strengths and challenges of Indian democracy.

An NCERT official confirmed that this was the first time that the Emergency was included under the section titled...