Odisha Minister Defends Textbook Errors Amidst Media Scrutiny

Minister Responds to Allegations of Textbook Mistakes

Bhubaneswar: Nityananda Gond, the Minister for School and Mass Education in Odisha, stated on Thursday that reports regarding inaccuracies in the Odia textbooks for Class I in English medium private schools are overstated.

Following a meeting with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Gond informed the press that the government plans to distribute revised textbooks to students shortly.

Concerns arose after numerous errors were identified in the textbooks used in Odisha's government schools, including mistakes in the National Anthem and the state song within the Odia textbook for Class I students in private institutions.

Although these schools operate independently, the state government is responsible for providing the Odia language textbooks.

Addressing the reported inaccuracies in the National Anthem and state song, Gond remarked, "The media's portrayal is not grounded in reality."

He emphasized that the claims regarding errors in the Class I textbooks have been misrepresented by certain media outlets.

"The errors being reported are not as significant as they are being made out to be. We will soon supply corrected textbooks to students," he assured.

Additionally, he responded to claims about the inclusion of the song 'Nimbooda Nimbooda' from the 1999 film 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' in the Odia school curriculum.

"This has been misrepresented. The National Education Policy (NEP) promotes the inclusion of songs and cultural content from various regions, which is why 'Nimbooda Nimbooda' is part of our textbooks," Gond explained.

He accused the media of spreading false information and urged them to refrain from disseminating negativity.

Gond's comments followed his department's earlier statement, which deemed the allegations of errors in Class I textbooks as "unjustified."

These recent errors were uncovered while the CID-Crime Branch of the Odisha Police investigates widespread inaccuracies in textbooks for students from classes 1 to 8 in Odia medium government schools.

Over 1,600 errors, including spelling mistakes and incorrect names of notable figures, were identified in 55 books provided by the department.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has instructed the CID to investigate the extensive mistakes found in the textbooks, suspecting a potential "conspiracy" behind the publication of these flawed materials.

In the meantime, the opposition Congress party criticized the CID-CB for only arresting one individual in connection with the previous textbook errors.

They referred to the arrest of Manoj Padhi, the former director of the State Council of Educational Research & Training, who was detained on July 13 for negligence in textbook preparation. He was granted bail on Wednesday.

"How can one person be responsible for such a conspiracy as suggested by the chief minister? What actions is the CID-CB taking after arresting just one individual?" questioned Congress spokesperson Rajani Mohanty.

The Congress party has also called on the government to provide a timeline for when corrected textbooks will be available in schools statewide.