Joshi said the boycott by non-Congress ruled states (among them Punjab) was because of ``politics and some misunderstanding''. Addressing a packed press conference today, Joshi said the boycott was completely unfounded and illogical. He pointed out that invocations like the Saraswati vandana were a traditional Indian practice, and he had observed them even in Christian institutions in Kerala.

``The Government of West Bengal gives holidays for Saraswati Puja and Kali Puja. Every year, the international film festival is inaugurated by the vandana. Last year, inVigyan Bhavan itself, a national awards ceremony for the welfare of people with disabilities began with the Saraswati vandana. The President and then prime minister I K Gujral were present. The government was supported by the Telugu Desam and the Communists, the very people who protested against it yesterday,'' he said.

On why the Government cancelled the presentation by BJP educationist P D Chitlangia, from the meeting's agenda, Joshi said: ``In a democracy, you have to function on the basis of consensus.... If eight to ten ministers say that we don't want to listen to him, what is the fun in having it.''

Refusing to be drawn into fresh controversy over the ``non-official'' agenda which was withdrawn from the deliberations, the minister even circulated an edited version of the list of experts who had been invited for the National Education Conference in August from which the recommendations emanated. The list did not include any names from the Vidya Bharati, RSS' education offshoot.

Instead,denying that there was a loss of face for the Government, Joshi sought to focus on the achievements of the conference, primary among which was that universal elementary and primary education would be adopted in ``mission mode''. That, said the minister, would be the first time that all the scattered projects would be monitored centrally by the National Elementary Education Mission (NEEM). A committee has been set up, with Joshi in the chair, and comprising ministers from Assam, Haryana, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, to outline the structure of NEEM.

Joshi also outlined the consensus on other issues: The use of science and technology in the spread of education; the provision of open schools especially for the socially disadvantaged; as well as the need to strengthen programmes for ``weaker sections'' like Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and minorities.