BHUBANESWAR: After political controversy over errors in Class X ‘Geography and Economics’ book, the school and mass education department on Friday decided to correct it immediately.
School and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash said the teachers will be asked to teach the students by manually correcting it in the books for now. “We will correct the mistakes while printing the books for next year,” he added.
In the Class X Odia medium book ‘Bhugola O Arthaniti’ (Geography and Economics) published by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha, it was mentioned in the 69th page that Machkund hydroelectric project belongs to Andhra Pradesh. But Machkund is in Koraput district of Odisha.
Another error: The book has identified the Balimela hydroelectric project as a thermal power project. It has made a spelling mistake by writing Rengali as Orangali.
Odisha is already at loggerheads with Andhra Pradesh over the alleged land encroachment and claim over Kotia villages in Koraput district by the latter. Recently, the state government said that Deomali, the highest peak of Odisha, is not found in revenue and forest records. The fresh Machkund row fuelled the controversy once again. Opposition political parties criticised the government for this goof up.
Koraput MP Saptagiri Ulaka dubbed these mistakes unfortunate. “It cannot be a simple mistake by showing Machkund in Andhra Pradesh. I feel the state government is not serious about issues of undivided Koraput. After the Kotia issue, chief minister Naveen Patnaik did not visit the area even. We should work towards saving every inch of our land,” he added.
BJP state vice president Bhrugu Baxipatra said the errors in Class X book is a blunder. “The Bansadhara water issue, Kotia border dispute and now Machkund issue have raised sufficient doubt that the Odisha government is in connivance with the Andhra government to give away some strategic locations to the latter. Government’s silence on border disputes is unfortunate,” he added.
BJD MLA Amar Prasad Satpathy also termed this incident unfortunate. “Such type of mistakes should not be there in the books published by a government agency. It should be a warning to the people who prepared this book. Such things should not be repeated in future,” he added.
Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangha, an organisation of parents of students studying in schools and colleges, condemned these mistakes found in the Class X book. “It reflects the sad state of affairs of school education in Odisha. It exposed the irresponsible behaviour of the school and mass education department. Action should be taken against the persons responsible for this,” said Prasanna Bisoyee, co-chairman of Mahasangha.
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