The book, published by Manan Publication and used by thousands of students at various university affiliated colleges, tries to explain the difference in goods and services that can be measured in money and those which cannot be assessed in terms of money.
A text book for Masters of Commerce (MCom) Part I, used by students studying at the University of Mumbai, has come under fire for using an inappropriate analogy while explaining.
The book, published by Manan Publication and used by thousands of students at various university affiliated colleges, tries to explain the difference in goods and services that can be measured in money and those which cannot be assessed in terms of money. While doing so, it has stated the following example: "If a man employs a maid servant, the payment to her may be considered as a positive item of national income. If he marries her, she will continue to do the same work without payment, and therefore, may not be included in national income."
The analogy is included in a chapter on National Income which is a part of the Macro Economics subject taught in MCom semester-II. A Twitter user, posted an image of the book with the excerpt on the micro-blogging website on Thursday. Students said that some other example could be used instead of making such a problematic co-relation. "There was no need to say that if a man marries his maid she would not be paid," said a student from a college in the city.
Siddheswar Gadade, Dean, Faculty of Commerce at the university, said that the university has not subscribed the text book in any way. "The university's Academic Council only approves a syllabus, and we provide study material to students opting for distance education. For regular students, the council only decides the syllabus and gives a set of original texts in that subject which does not include any such books of private publications," he added.
Gadade, however, said that the analogy is extremely problematic. "How can such a poor analogy be used to explain concepts in economics? If students write to us, we can ask the publication to take out the controversial paragraph," he added.
While DNA contacted Manan Publication, an official said that they would reach out to the authors to get clarity on the issue. "We will ask the authors as to why they chose to use that particular analogy," said the official.
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