Textbook errors row: CJP backs Odisha students’ ‘satyagraha’, seeks minister’s resignation

• CJP backs NYCS students demanding minister Nityananda Gond’s resignation.

• Students allege multiple errors in textbooks printed at a cost of Rs 380 crore.

• NYCS plans to gherao Odisha Assembly on 22 September over education reforms.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday extended its support to the ongoing ‘satyagraha’ by the Navnirman Yuva Chhatra Sangathan (NYCS), which is demanding the resignation of Odisha School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over alleged errors in school textbooks.

CJP co-convenor Sourav Das, who is in Odisha as part of the party’s ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign, said the organisation supported the students’ demand for reforms in school education and accountability over the alleged errors.

“The CJP extends its support to the activists of NYCS who have been demanding reforms in school education and resignation of Gond over the errors in the textbooks,” Das said.

He claimed the government had spent Rs 380 crore on printing textbooks for schoolchildren but that the books contained multiple mistakes.

“We feel that accountability should be fixed for the massive errors in the textbooks and the minister should resign,” Das said.

Das said he was in the state at the invitation of Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS) convenor Akshaya Kumar and NYCS leader Manwar Ali, who have been on hunger strike for more than two weeks over the textbook issue.

He said the CJP and the student activists would work together on a blueprint for education reforms and addressing the textbook errors.

Das also referred to former Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation following the NEET-UG question paper leak controversy, arguing that Gond should similarly take responsibility for the alleged textbook errors.

The NYCS has announced plans to gherao the Odisha Assembly on 22 September, demanding reforms and greater transparency and accountability in the state’s education system.

Kumar said the activists had adopted Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent satyagraha as their method of protest. The protesters alleged that Odisha’s education system had become dysfunctional and accused the government of failing to address their concerns.

The Opposition BJD’s youth and students’ wing has also announced plans to gherao the Assembly on Tuesday, separately demanding Gond’s resignation.