The BJP Government is playing with the education system of the State. The newly introduced textbooks for Classes I to VIII contain serious and widespread errors. However, instead of accepting its mistake and withdrawing the erroneous textbooks, the BJP Government has refused to do so. In strong protest against this, the Biju Yuva Janata Dal and Biju Chhatra Janata Dal staged a demonstration. The organisations gheraoed the official residence of School & Mass Education Minister Shri Nityananda Gond in Bhubaneswar and demanded his resignation.
According to the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020, the textbooks for Classes I to VIII contain unprecedented and widespread errors. Under the pretext of publishing these textbooks, irregularities amounting to approximately ₹380 crore have allegedly taken place in the printing process. The Biju Janata Dal has earlier raised the demand for a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities and sought the resignation of the Minister through various forums. The party has demanded that once the truth emerges through an impartial investigation, strict legal action should be initiated against all guilty individuals, officials and agencies. The party has also demanded that the public money spent on printing the defective textbooks should be recovered.
The BJD has stated that the widespread mistakes in the new Odia textbooks are not merely instances of administrative negligence but constitute a serious blow to the Odia language, literature, culture, heritage and the educational future of lakhs of students in the State. Despite the gravity of the issue, the Government has allegedly failed to take any action against the Minister or the officials responsible.
In protest against this, the Biju Yuva Janata Dal and Biju Chhatra Janata Dal organised a massive demonstration in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Under the leadership of Biju Yuva Janata Dal President Shri Chinmaya Sahu and Biju Chhatra Janata Dal President Ms. Ipsita Sahu, a procession commenced from near the LIC Office. More than one thousand students and youth from different parts of the State participated in the protest outside the residence of the School & Mass Education Minister. The protesters raised slogans demanding the immediate resignation of the Minister over the State Government’s education policy and the textbook controversy, besides demanding a thorough investigation.
As a symbolic mark of protest, a Yajna (sacred ritual) was also performed, praying for the protection of knowledge, quality education, language and cultural heritage.
The BJD stated that education is the foundation of society and there can be no compromise with the quality of textbooks. It alleged that serious irregularities and corruption involving nearly ₹380 crore have taken place in the printing and publication of these textbooks. The party has demanded a CBI investigation to uncover the truth behind the entire episode, identify the persons responsible and initiate stringent legal action against them.
The party has further demanded that the entire amount of public money spent on printing the defective textbooks be recovered from the concerned officials, agencies and guilty individuals. It has urged the State Government to immediately order a comprehensive CBI investigation, register criminal cases against those responsible, and without any delay provide error-free textbooks to the students.
The Biju Janata Dal reiterated that it will continue its fight to protect the interests of students, uphold the dignity of the Odia language and oppose every act of negligence that adversely affects the future of the people of the State. The party further warned that if the Government fails to take exemplary action, the agitation will be intensified in the coming days.
Among those present during the protest were Shri Rajendra Sahu, Dr. Priyabrata Majhi, Ms. Sofia Alam, Shri Amarjit Senapati, Shri Subhrajit Padhi, Shri Ashish Sahu, Shri Satyajit Pattnaik, Shri Neelamadhab Mohanty, Shri Soumya Ranjan Tripathy, Shri Sanjit Mohanty, Shri Ananta Satapathy, Shri Srichandan Patra, Shri Smruti Ranjan Pattnaik, Shri Sukanta Nayak, Shri Arup Srichandan, Shri Manoj Senapati, Shri Pradosh Parida, Shri Babu Khan, Shri Chinmaya Das, Shri S.K. Nawaz, Shri Sagar Balabantray, Ms. Bijayalakshmi Das, Shri Snehashish Jena, Shri Tabrez Khan, Ms. Fatima Khatun, Shri Deepak Behera, Shri Manoranjan Swain, Shri Bijaya Ketan Sahu, Shri Bikram Pattnaik, Shri Soumya Sarthak Ray, Shri Aftab Alam Khan, Ms. Sonali Priyadarshini, Ms. Chinmayee Panda, Ms. Suchismita Behera, Shri Prithviraj Panda, Shri Abhyakta Harihar Khadanga, Shri Satya Prakash Sahu, Shri Prafulla Nayak, Shri Manoj Mohanty, Shri Pradipta Biswal, Shri Biswaranjan Bhuiyan, Shri Jagamohan Baliarsingh, Shri Gyanaranjan Manasingh, Shri Swadesh Singh, Shri Srichandan Patra, Ms. Rashmi Behera, Shri Sammim Akhtar, Shri Dibya Singh Sethi, Shri Diptendu Choudhury, Shri Shubham Khatua and Shri Nandalal Singh, among other