Watch: Students protest in Odisha over textbook errors; national highway blocked

NEW DELHI: Students and members of farmers' and youth organisations staged protests in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday as a 12-hour statewide Odisha bandh was observed over alleged errors in school textbooks and a demand for the resignation of school and mass education minister Nityananda Gond.Members of the Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS) and Nabnirman Yuva Chhatra Sangathan (NYCS) blocked a national highway at Baramunda bus stand and torched tyres during the protest. Visuals from the protest showed demonstrators occupying the road as traffic movement was disrupted.The NNKS has called the bandh over what it described as large-scale errors in textbooks used in government schools. The organisation has been holding a relay hunger strike since August 20 and said the agitation would remain peaceful. NNKS national coordinator Akshay Kumar has been on hunger strike in Bhubaneswar since September 6.Speaking to ANI, M D Manwar Ali, state convenor of the Nabnirman Yuva Chhatra Sangathan, said the bandh had begun across the state."Right now, the Odisha Bandh is happening in Bhubaneswar at Baramunda. On that side is Hanspal, on this side is Uttara. Accordingly, across Odisha—whether West Odisha, East Odisha, or South Odisha—you will see picketing has started everywhere."What is the textbook row about?The NNKS claimed that more than 1,700 errors had been identified in newly published school textbooks, while NYCS alleged that the number was more than 2,000 in books for Classes 1 to 8. Among the examples cited were a reference to the Niyamgiri Hills as being in Jharkhand and a picture of the Karnataka assembly being used instead of the Odisha assembly. The organisations also alleged that scientist Isaac Newton was described as a pilot.Ali alleged irregularities in the textbook preparation process and claimed corruption worth Rs 380 crore. "Demanding the resignation of Odisha’s Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond, we have called for an Odisha Bandh today. We request everyone to support this call. In Odisha, for children's school textbooks from Class 1 to Class 8, there are more than 2,000 errors and a corruption of ?380 crore has taken place," he said.The organisations said they had received no response from the government despite their protests. "Therefore, today our demand is that Odisha’s Mass Education Minister must resign. Today marks 42 days of our protest. Our organisation’s founder Akshaya Ji has been on protest for 25 days, and today is my 18th day. We sat there at the protest venue (Dharna Sthal), but no representative from the government came to talk or ask for his resignation. That’s why we gave the call for the Odisha Bandh," Ali said.The state Home Department alerted district collectors ahead of the bandh and directed them to strengthen security at sensitive locations and ensure essential services continued. In Bhubaneswar, police deployed 10 platoons of force and 15 officers at designated locations.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.