Odisha LoP Naveen Patnaik. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Biju Janata Dal President and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday (June 30, 2026) hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party government saying the callous handling of school textbooks by the State Government betrayed the sacred trust of child for whom textbooks are first source of truth.
“School textbooks are not just books. For every child, they are the first source of truth. A child may question many things, but never the words printed in a school textbook. Those words are an article of absolute faith and trust,” Mr. Patnaik wrote on ‘X’.
“Through textbooks, an entire generation learns not only facts but also builds faith in the system and trust in society. When that trust is compromised, the damage goes far beyond a printing error. It strikes at the very foundation of our children’s future. The callous handling of school textbooks by the Odisha BJP Government has betrayed that sacred trust,” he said.
“By printing error ridden textbooks and then flip flopping on their withdrawal, we are shaking the very foundation of our children’s future. A government may correct a textbook in the next edition. But who will take responsibility for the cost of shattering the faith of an entire generation of Odia children? Who will answer for the wound inflicted on their trust, a wound that no revision can heal?,” Mr. Patnaik asked.
There have been hundreds of mistakes in newly published textbooks for students studying from Standard I to Standard VIII. The books were prepared by State Council of Education, Research and Training (SCERT).
Though the Mohan Charan Majhi Government has suspended four officials, including former SCERT director Manoj Padhy, the controversy showed no signs of dying down.
Mistakes in textbooks have so far crossed 2,000. Mistakes are not just limited to spelling errors, as educationists pointed out ‘blunder’ made in fundamental concepts. As per the textbooks, Pandavas and Kauravas played Kabadi and Devi Sita had given birth to Lav and Kush at Sitabinj, a place in Odisha’s Keonjhar district. “Women who face medical complications in conceiving can recover if they go around cradle of Devi Sita,” a textbook read.
The books read that Mahamahopadhya Chandrasekhar Singh Samant Harichandan Mohapatra, popularly known as Pathani Samant, a well known astronomer of Odisha, had determined exact time of his death and had come to get glimpse of Lord Jagannath at Puri, just 13 days before his death.
Parent and educationists questioned the concept saying when students should gain more scientific knowledge, the books were fundamentally based on blind beliefs.
Nityanand Gond, School and Mass Education Minister, said corrected copies of textbooks would be supplied to teachers and they would rectify errors in their respective classes.
Meanwhile, members of BJD hit the street alleging massive embezzlement of government fund in printing of textbooks. They demanded resignation of School and Mass Education Minister.
Published – June 30, 2026 11:46 pm IST
