Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday ordered a comprehensive criminal investigation into the large-scale errors in newly revised textbooks for Classes 1 to 8 in the state.
Taking a serious note of the errors, Majhi took this important decision and issued direction for launching a criminal investigation into the entire process, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement.
The Chief Minister has specifically directed the SCERT Director to file an FIR in this regard with the Crime Branch SP.
Based on the report of this committee, the CM had on June 26 suspended four officials, including former Director of the Directorate of Teacher Education and SCERT, over the large-scale errors in newly revised textbooks
This apart, disciplinary action was also ordered against six Assistant Directors.
The errors, which include factual inaccuracies such as describing Isaac Newton as a pilot, misidentifying the Hampi temple as the Konark Sun Temple, and placing images of other states’ landmarks or locations incorrectly for Odisha contexts, sparked widespread concern among teachers, parents, and the public as the new academic session began.
Acting swiftly after a high-level probe committee headed by the Development Commissioner submitted its report, the Chief Minister placed Manoj Padhi, former Director of Teacher Education and SCERT, along with Assistant Directors Pralipta Mishra, Dilip Kumar Sahu, and Bharati Tudu, under suspension. Departmental disciplinary proceedings have also been initiated against six other Assistant Directors: Bandita Pattnaik, Manas Ranjan Rout, Manoranjan Mohapatra, Dr Prashant Kumar Sahu, Manas Kumar Nayak, and Dr Sudarshan Santara.
The textbooks were prepared by the Directorate of Teacher Education and SCERT as part of curriculum revisions aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The committee’s findings highlighted serious oversights in content review, fact-checking, and quality control processes during preparation and printing.
