Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Friday said state government has ordered a comprehensive probe into the errors found in school textbooks for Classes I to VIII, alleging that the scale of the mistakes points to a possible conspiracy to tarnish government’s image.
Majhi said all defective textbooks already distributed to students will be withdrawn and replaced with freshly printed copies to ensure children receive error-free study material.
A committee has been constituted to investigate the matter and has been directed to submit its report within seven days.
The chief minister said the inquiry will examine every stage of the textbook production process, including manuscript preparation, proofreading, verification and printing, to determine how the errors occurred.
While acknowledging that minor printing mistakes had surfaced in previous years, Majhi said the unusually high number of errors this year had raised suspicions of deliberate sabotage.
He said strict action would be taken against those found responsible. If the investigation establishes a conspiracy, cost of printing replacement textbooks will be recovered from the persons held accountable.
