Odia textbook errors: BJD, Congress demand withdrawal of Class I-VIII books
Synopsis
Odisha's newly published Class I-VIII textbooks contain nearly 1,678 errors — including a photo of Karnataka's legislature mislabelled as Odisha's assembly and the Niyamgiri Hills placed in Jharkhand. With BJD and Congress demanding a full recall and a ministerial resignation, the BJP government faces a credibility test on the very issue of 'Odia Asmita' it has made its own.
Key Takeaways
Opposition BJD and Congress on 16 June attacked the Odisha BJP government over errors in Class I–VIII Odia textbooks prepared under Odisha Curriculum 2025 .
A total of nearly 1,678 errors have been identified across the textbooks, with Class VIII alone containing 705 mistakes .
Errors include a Karnataka Legislative Assembly photo mislabelled as Odisha's, the Niyamgiri Hills placed in Jharkhand , and misspelled names of personalities like Sunanda Patnaik and Pandit Nilakantha Das .
BJD has demanded immediate withdrawal, a high-level inquiry, and error-free books before the next academic year.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das additionally demanded the School and Mass Education Minister's resignation or a public apology.
The opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Indian National Congress on Tuesday, 16 June launched a coordinated offensive against the Odisha state government over what they described as systemic and serious errors in newly published Odia-language textbooks for Classes I to VIII, alleging the lapses reflect a broader collapse of the state's education system under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration.
Scale of the Errors
According to BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty, the new textbooks — prepared by SCERT Odisha under the Odisha Curriculum 2025 framework — contain nearly 1,678 identified errors across all eight classes. The worst-affected are the Class VIII textbooks, which alone account for 705 mistakes, including 294 errors in Jijnasa, 114 in Sanskrit, 31 in Literature, and 25 in Social Science, alongside significant mistakes in English and Mathematics.
Mohanty, addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in Bhubaneswar, said the mistakes extend well beyond typographical slips. He alleged they include factual inaccuracies, geographical distortions, incorrect names of historical and literary personalities, and wrong photographs with erroneous captions.
What the Errors Include
Citing specific examples, Mohanty alleged that a photograph of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly has been incorrectly presented as the Odisha Legislative Assembly. The Niyamgiri Hills have reportedly been placed in Jharkhand rather than Odisha, and Ganjam district has been referred to as Brahmapur district. The names of noted Odia personalities — including Sunanda Patnaik and Pandit Nilakantha Das — have allegedly been misspelled.
'These errors would mislead students about their history, geography, culture and identity,' Mohanty said. He further alleged that the School and Mass Education Department attempted to suppress the lapses by hastily issuing a correction list — an act he described as evidence of negligence and a lack of accountability.
BJD's Demands
The BJD has called for the immediate withdrawal of all defective textbooks, a high-level inquiry into the preparation and proofreading process, an investigation into the officials and ministers responsible, and the publication of error-free textbooks before the commencement of the next academic year. Mohanty also took aim at the BJP's frequent invocation of 'Odia Asmita' (Odia pride), arguing the textbook fiasco exposes the hollowness of that slogan.
Congress Joins the Attack
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das echoed the criticism, calling the administrative failure 'a mockery of the state's education system' and 'a direct insult to Odisha's rich history, geography and culture.' The Congress has demanded the immediate withdrawal of all inaccurate textbooks from Classes I to VIII, a transparent and time-bound investigation into the SCERT review board, and either the resignation of the State School and Mass Education Minister or a formal public apology for the errors.
What Happens Next
The BJP state government had not issued a formal response at the time of reporting. With both major opposition parties aligned on the issue and specific, verifiable errors now on public record, pressure on the School and Mass Education Department to act is likely to intensify in the coming days. Whether the government opts for a full recall, an expanded correction exercise, or a ministerial statement will shape how the controversy unfolds ahead of the next academic session.
Point of View
678-error count is not a proofreading failure — it is a governance failure. That a state-run curriculum body could approve textbooks placing the Niyamgiri Hills in Jharkhand and mislabelling Karnataka's legislature as Odisha's suggests systemic breakdown in review processes, not an isolated oversight. The BJP's 'Odia Asmita' positioning makes the political cost particularly sharp: the government's own brand promise is the sharpest weapon the opposition now holds. A correction list issued quietly does not close this — only a credible, public accountability process will.
NationPress
5 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
How many errors have been found in Odisha's new Class I-VIII textbooks?
Nearly 1,678 errors have been identified in the textbooks prepared by SCERT Odisha under the Odisha Curriculum 2025 framework. Class VIII textbooks alone account for 705 of these mistakes, spanning subjects including Jijnasa, Sanskrit, Social Science, Literature, English, and Mathematics.
What are some specific errors in the Odisha textbooks?
According to BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty, a photograph of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly has been presented as the Odisha Legislative Assembly, the Niyamgiri Hills have been shown as being located in Jharkhand, Ganjam district has been referred to as Brahmapur district, and the names of noted Odia personalities Sunanda Patnaik and Pandit Nilakantha Das have been misspelled.
What have the BJD and Congress demanded over the textbook errors?
The BJD has demanded immediate withdrawal of all defective textbooks, a high-level inquiry into their preparation and proofreading, an investigation into responsible officials and ministers, and error-free books before the next academic year. The Congress has additionally demanded the resignation of the State School and Mass Education Minister or a formal public apology.
Why is the textbook controversy politically significant for the Odisha BJP government?
The BJP government in Odisha has frequently invoked the slogan 'Odia Asmita' (Odia pride) as a political identity. The opposition argues that textbook errors distorting Odia history, geography, and cultural figures directly contradict that positioning, making it a reputational liability beyond a routine administrative lapse.
Has the Odisha government responded to the textbook error allegations?
According to reports, the School and Mass Education Department reportedly issued a correction list after the errors surfaced, which the BJD characterised as an attempt to cover up the lapses. No formal ministerial statement had been issued at the time of reporting.
