BJD youth, student wings to gherao Odisha Assembly over textbook errors

• BJD’s youth and students’ wings will gherao the Odisha Assembly on 22 Sep, demanding school and mass education minister Nityananda Gond’s resignation over errors in textbooks.

• The Opposition party alleged that error-ridden books for Classes I to VIII remain in circulation despite the government being aware of the mistakes, with examinations approaching.

• The BJD also alleged a Rs 380 crore scam in textbook publication, while Gond said proofreading was underway and corrected, error-free books would be supplied soon.

The BJD’s youth and students’ wings on Sunday announced plans to gherao the Odisha Assembly on 22 September, demanding the resignation of school and mass education minister Nityananda Gond over errors in school textbooks.

Addressing a press conference on the issue, Biju Yuva Janata Dal state president Chinmay Sahu and Biju Chhatra Janata Dal state president Ipsita Sahu criticised the Odisha government for failing to provide error-free textbooks even four months after the mistakes were detected.

"If school and mass education minister Nityananda Gond does not resign by 22 September, the Yuva and Chhatra BJD will sit on an indefinite day-and-night dharna in front of the Assembly from 22 September. We appeal to youth and students from across the state to participate in the agitation," Chinmay Sahu said.

He also sought the support of social organisations, parents, intellectuals and senior citizens for the protest.

The two BJD leaders said the textbooks prescribed for students from Classes I to VIII contain serious errors, but the state government has not withdrawn them. With examinations due to be held within the next few days, they questioned how students could prepare using textbooks containing mistakes.

"How will students appear for examinations after studying from error-ridden textbooks?" they asked.

The BJD alleged that despite being aware of the errors, the state government distributed textbooks containing numerous mistakes among students. It further alleged that the tender for publishing the new textbooks was awarded to an influential BJP leader associated with the Central government.

"There has been a Rs 380 crore scam in the publication of textbooks. The concerned minister, Nityananda Gond, is also involved in this corruption," the BJD alleged.

Gond, however, said the state government was taking steps to ensure that error-free textbooks were distributed soon. Proofreading of the books is currently underway, he said, adding that the government was closely monitoring the process and making arrangements to provide corrected textbooks at the earliest.

With PTI inputs