Ex-SCERT director Manoj K Padhi held in Odisha school textbook error case

Bhubaneswar, Jul 14 (PTI) Former director of Odisha's State Council of Educational Research and Training, Manoj Kumar Padhy, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the large-scale errors detected in school textbooks for students of classes 1 to 8, a senior police officer said. Padhy, a senior Odisha Administrative Service officer, was earlier suspended based on the findings of a high-level inquiry committee headed by Development Commissioner DK Singh. Three other assistant directors of the council were also suspended in this case. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had constituted the high-level committee following widespread criticism over errors in textbooks, including a reference describing scientist Isaac Newton as a pilot. On Monday, the crime branch of the Odisha Police constituted multiple teams to probe various aspects of the large-scale errors detected in school textbooks. The CID-Crime Branch registered a case after the director of teacher education and State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Madhusmita Sahoo, lodged an FIR with the crime branch SP. "As prima facie evidence is well established against Manoj Kumar Padhy (57), he was arrested and a case registered against him under BNS sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trust), 201 (public servants who intentionally frame, prepare or translate official documents or electronic records incorrectly) and 3(5) (constructive criminal liability)," The CID-CB said in a statement. It said that during the course of investigation, it has been found that Padhy, as the then director of SCERT, was entrusted with the overall supervision, coordination, monitoring and approval of the textbook development process under National Education Policy-2020. "However, he dishonestly failed to discharge the official duties entrusted to him and knowingly approved and forwarded print-ready manuscripts for publication without ensuring verification of their factual, scientific, geographical, translation and pictorial contents amounting to criminal negligence," an official said. The investigation also revealed that such acts and omissions resulted in publication and distribution of erroneous textbooks, causing wrongful loss to the state exchequer to the tune of approximately Rs 175 crore and hurt public interest. Earlier on Tuesday, Padhy was questioned by Crime Branch officials as part of its investigation into the textbook errors. The matter came to the fore after a section of teachers found over 1,600 mistakes in textbooks supplied by the state government. Chief Minister Majhi has expressed concern over the errors and suspected a deeper conspiracy aimed at discrediting the state government. PTI AAM AAM NSD