Odisha’s Crime Branch has arrested the former director of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in a case involving alleged errors in school textbooks for Classes 1 to 8. The case is important for UPSC because it connects school education governance with administrative accountability and quality assurance in curriculum material.
The investigating agency alleges that senior Odisha Administrative Service officer Manoj Kumar Padhy, during his tenure as SCERT director, had overall supervision, coordination, monitoring and approval authority over the textbook development process under the National Education Policy 2020.
According to the Crime Branch, he approved and forwarded print-ready manuscripts without adequate verification of content. The allegations cover purported factual, scientific, geographical and pictorial errors in the textbooks, and the agency has framed the matter as criminal negligence. The case remains under investigation.
Why the case matters for UPSC
The case is a reminder that education reform is not only about policy design but also about implementation capacity, review systems and institutional accountability. It also provides a current example of how administrative negligence can affect a sensitive public service such as school education.
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