Bhubaneswar: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has stepped in amid mounting outrage over alleged errors and irregularities in Odisha’s school textbooks.
Acting on a whistleblower’s complaint, the PMO has asked the Union Education Ministry’s School Education and Literacy Department to seek an urgent response from the state’s School and Mass Education Department.
Officials in Odisha have now been directed to take “immediate and appropriate action” on charges of corruption, financial fraud, conflict of interest, and cover‑ups in the textbook printing process — a controversy that has already rocked the Odisha Assembly and triggered widespread protests in the state.
The PMO’s intervention came following a complaint filed by RTI activist and whistleblower Pradip Pradhan, who alleged a scam in textbook printing and distribution of error-filled textbooks in the state.
Claiming that a deputy director-level officer at the government press is part of the alleged nexus, the complainant called for a thorough probe into the matter. It was further stated that the official, who belongs to the Commerce Department, has been handling textbook printing work without authorisation since 2022, even though this responsibility legally rests with the School and Mass Education Department.
It was further claimed that the officer concerned has systematically funnelled lucrative printing and supply contracts through a private agency owned and operated by his own wife, amounting to severe conflict of interest. This compromised quality control apart from leading to embezzlement of public funds, also resulted in lakhs of students across Odisha receiving defective and error-ridden textbooks, the complainant alleged.
Notably, the Odisha government on Friday informed the Odisha Assembly that 1,741 errors were found in textbooks for Classes 1 to 8, for which Rs 175 crore was spent on printing and publication. The issue was raised in the Assembly, where School and Mass Education Minister Nityanand Gond gave the details in a written reply.