What happened
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ordered a criminal investigation into widespread mistakes in textbooks for Classes 1 to 7. The textbooks were printed by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Odisha and distributed to more than 40 lakh students.
Teachers flagged numerous errors. The Chief Minister directed the SCERT Director to file an First Information Report (FIR) with the Odisha Crime Branch.
Background and earlier position
A high-level committee headed by Development Commissioner D.K. Singh had already been set up to examine the lapses. On the basis of its findings, the former SCERT Director and three Assistant Directors were suspended, and disciplinary action began against six more Assistant Directors.
The textbooks had already been corrected through a June 8 corrigendum, but that corrigendum itself contained mistakes. The sequence shows a failure in drafting, review, and correction within the textbook-production chain.
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