Odisha’s School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond on Thursday asserted that media accounts detailing errors in Class 1 Odia textbooks distributed by the state to private English-medium schools are exaggerated.
The state government will soon distribute revised copies of the textbooks to students, Gond informed journalists following a discussion with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in his office.
Following the discovery of widespread mistakes in government school textbooks, further errors were reported in the state song and National Anthem printed inside Class 1 Odia materials supplied to private institutions.
Even though these schools operate under private management, the state government provides their Odia language learning materials directly to pupils.
Addressing the reported flaws in the state song and National Anthem, the minister commented, “The media reports are not based on facts.”
He emphasized that statements surrounding the Class 1 textbook defects were being distorted by a segment of the media.
“The kind of errors being reported since yesterday do not exist in the manner they are being projected. Corrected textbooks will soon be provided to students,” the minister said.
He also said that several media outlets reported presence of ‘Nimbooda Nimbooda’ – a popular track from the 1999 Hindi film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam – in the Odia school textbooks.
“The matter has been portrayed incorrectly. The National Education Policy (NEP) encourages exposure to songs and cultural content from various states. Therefore, ‘Nimbooda Nimbooda’ was part of school textbooks in Odisha,” Gond said.
Accusing the media of circulating false narratives, the minister appealed to news outlets to refrain from promoting negative coverage.
His remarks followed a statement issued a day earlier by his department, which described the allegations regarding Class 1 English-medium textbooks as “unjustified.”
These latest concerns emerged while the Crime Branch (CID) of the Odisha Police continues investigating widespread flaws discovered across Class 1 to 8 textbooks in state-run Odia-medium institutions.
Over 1,600 mistakes, including spelling errors and incorrect names of eminent personalities, were found in 55 books supplied by the department.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi instructed the CID to investigate the previously reported textbook flaws, indicating suspicion that a “coordinated plot” might be behind the compromised publications.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress party pointed out on Thursday that the CID-CB has apprehended only a single individual in connection with the initial Class 1 to 8 textbook investigation.
The opposition was pointing to Manoj Padhi, the former head of the State Council of Educational Research & Training, who was taken into custody on July 13 for alleged neglect of duty during textbook compilation before receiving court bail on Wednesday.
“How can only one person hatch a conspiracy as suspected by the chief minister? What is the CID-CB doing after arresting just one person?” asked state Congress spokesperson Rajani Mohanty.
The Congress also demanded that the government provide a specific date for supplying corrected editions of textbooks in schools across the state.
