The Odisha High Court has asked the state government to explain why corrected textbooks have not been provided to students despite several errors being found in school books earlier this year.
The court has directed the government to submit an affidavit within a week. The matter will be heard again on November 9.
The direction came while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate and human rights activist Prabir Kumar Das. The petition raised concerns over errors in textbooks prescribed for students of Classes 1 to 8 for the 2026-27 academic session.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Chittaranjan Dash issued the direction on Friday.
1,678 errors found in 55 textbooks
According to the petition, 1,678 errors were identified in 55 textbooks prepared by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).
The mistakes came to light in June, after the books had already been distributed to students.
The errors reportedly include spelling and grammatical mistakes, incorrect facts and wrong references to prominent personalities.
The petitioner argued that the mistakes could affect students’ learning and create confusion in classrooms.
The petition also pointed out that the academic session began on April 1, but the government had not yet prepared, printed and distributed corrected textbooks.
Online corrections not enough, says petition
The Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) had uploaded a list of corrections on its website. However, the petitioner argued that this did not solve the problem because students continued to use books containing errors.
The petition sought directions to ensure that corrected textbooks reach students within a fixed timeframe.
It also asked the government to implement recommendations made by a high-level inquiry committee formed to examine the textbook errors.
Rs 175 Crore Loss to State Exchequer
The textbook errors have also raised concerns over the financial loss to the state government. According to the PIL, the errors had caused an estimated loss of Rs 175 crore to the state exchequer, affecting around 46 lakh students.
The amount was spent on printing and publishing textbooks for Classes 1 to 8 for the 2026-27 academic session. The errors were detected after the books had been distributed to students.
The investigation found that the books were approved for printing without proper verification of their factual, scientific, geographical, translation and pictorial content.
The Crime Branch has also taken action against officials in connection with the case. Former SCERT director Manoj Kumar Padhy was arrested in July and granted bail later, while the state government had earlier suspended four senior officials and initiated disciplinary proceedings against six others.
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