Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik Monday demanded the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond, accusing him of “breaking the trust” of students by allowing error-ridden textbooks to be distributed in government schools.
Patnaik’s demand came a day after the Congress threatened an ‘Odisha bandh’ if the minister did not step down in a week, holding him responsible for thousands of errors in textbooks for Classes I to VIII.
Speaking to reporters, the BJD chief said the large number of mistakes in school textbooks was unacceptable and had eroded public confidence in the education system.
“The state Education Minister, Sri Gond, should follow the example of Sri Dharmendra Pradhan and resign from the post. That is what the Biju Janata Dal has been demanding for the last two-three weeks,” he said.
The CPI(M) has also been holding a demonstration at the Master Canteen Square over the issue since morning.
Pradhan resigned as the Union Education Minister on Saturday amid nationwide protests over the alleged NEET paper leak.
More than 2,000 errors were reported in the state board’s school textbooks, and among the glaring ones were scientist Isaac Newton being described as an ace pilot and Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills being placed in Jharkhand.
On Sunday, state Congress president Bhakta Charan Das threatened a statewide bandh if Gond did not resign within a week over what he termed “grave mistakes” in the textbooks.
He also warned that Congress workers would gherao the minister’s residence if he failed to step down.
Meanwhile, BJP general secretary Biranchi Narayan Tripathy questioned the BJD’s moral stand, asking how many ministers had resigned on ethical grounds when it was in power despite corruption allegations against several of them.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi handed over the investigation into the textbook errors to the Crime Branch of Odisha Police.
A former director of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has been arrested in connection with the case, three assistant directors have been suspended, and disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against six other officials.
PTI