More than 700 academicians, including 51 vice chancellors of universities, participated in a workshop organised by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate to discuss ways to include “Bharatiya perspectives” in Indian education, PTI reported on Monday. The event, titled Gyan Sangam was organised by Prajna Pravah on March 25 and 26 in New Delhi.

Several commissions, and even the Supreme Court, have highlighted the absence of “Indianess” in the country’s educational system, said J Nand Kumar, national convener of the RSS affiliate. “The exercise is not an alternative to the present educational system, which is aping the West, but it is a real nationalist narrative to imbibe Bharatiya perspectives in it,” Nand Kumar said, quoting RSS National President Mohan Bhagwat.

During an interaction with Bhagwat, participants discussed ways to create a non-governmental and autonomous academic ecosystem. The event focused on three themes – cultural onslaught on educational system, intellectual colonisation and resurgence of nationalism in higher educational institutes.

In March 2016, the right-wing organisation had publicly condemned events at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where students were accused of shouting anti-national slogans. The RSS runs several educational institutions across the country.