Bhubaneswar, June 26: Taking a tough stand over the large-scale errors detected in textbooks for Classes I to VIII, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has directed the immediate withdrawal of all faulty textbooks distributed to students across the state. He also warned of strict action against those found responsible for the lapses.
The Chief Minister announced that the state government will collect back all the error-ridden textbooks already supplied to students and replace them with freshly printed corrected editions. He assured that no student would be forced to continue studying from books containing incorrect information.
The decision came after the Chief Minister reviewed the inquiry report submitted by the three-member committee constituted to investigate the issue. The report reached the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Thursday, following which Majhi conducted a detailed examination of its findings.
Expressing serious concern over the scale of mistakes, the Chief Minister said the preliminary findings indicate the possibility of a larger conspiracy behind the preparation and publication of the textbooks. He ordered a comprehensive probe covering every stage of the process, including manuscript preparation, content verification, editing, printing and publication.
Majhi said stringent action would be initiated against every individual found responsible for the lapses. He further directed that the financial loss incurred in printing the defective textbooks would be recovered from those held accountable.
The textbook controversy has left students, parents and teachers in a difficult situation. Educators say fresh mistakes are being discovered with every page, creating confusion in classrooms and affecting the learning process. With nearly three months of the academic session already over, uncertainty continues over how studies will proceed until corrected textbooks reach schools.
The controversy has also drawn criticism from several writers and poets, who alleged that the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) reproduced their literary works in textbooks without obtaining prior permission or giving proper credit. They argued that publishing copyrighted material without the author's consent or attribution violates established academic and publishing norms. SCERT has so far not issued a detailed clarification on these allegations.
The issue first came to light on June 16 after reports claimed that as many as 1,678 errors had been identified across textbooks for Classes I to VIII. The following day, Chief Minister Majhi convened a high-level meeting at Lok Seva Bhawan and ordered a seven-day inquiry into the matter.
Subsequently, on June 18, the state government constituted a three-member investigation committee under the chairmanship of the Development Commissioner to examine the entire textbook preparation process. The committee submitted its report on Thursday, prompting the Chief Minister to order the withdrawal of the defective books and initiate further action against those responsible.
