Bhubaneswar: Amid reports of 1,678 errors in SCERT Odisha textbooks, the Opposition BJD has mounted a sharp attack on the ruling BJP, sparking a political storm. 

Questioning the government’s commitment to ‘Odia Asmita’, the BJD alleged the large number of errors reflects serious negligence in textbook preparation.

Addressing a press conference at Sankha Bhawan, the party’s state headquarters, BJD Media Coordinator and spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said the new textbooks prepared by SCERT for Classes I to VIII amount to a direct assault on the Odia language, culture, and the future of lakhs of students. He termed the situation a “national embarrassment”.
Mohanty claimed the highest number of errors of 705 was found in Class VIII textbooks. These include 294 mistakes in Jijnasa, 114 in Sanskrit, 25 in Social Science, and 31 in Literature, along with several significant errors in English and Mathematics.

Citing specific examples, he alleged a photograph of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly was wrongly presented as the Odisha Legislative Assembly. He further said the Niyamgiri Hills were incorrectly shown as being in Jharkhand, Ganjam district was referred to as Brahmapur district, and the names of noted Odia personalities such as Sunanda Patnaik and Pandit Nilakantha Das were misspelled.

Demanding immediate withdrawal of the erroneous textbooks, Mohanty called for a high-level inquiry into the lapses in preparation and proofreading. He also urged officials and ministers responsible be brought under the purview of the probe.

The BJD leader added the party would continue to raise the issue both inside and outside the Odisha Legislative Assembly, asserting it would strive to protect the Odia language and safeguard students’ future.