He also sought the support of social organisations, parents, intellectuals and senior citizens for the protest.
The two BJD leaders said the textbooks prescribed for students from Classes I to VIII contain serious errors, but the state government has not withdrawn them. With examinations due to be held within the next few days, they questioned how students could prepare using textbooks containing mistakes.
“How will students appear for examinations after studying from error-ridden textbooks?” they asked.
The BJD alleged that despite being aware of the errors, the state government distributed textbooks containing numerous mistakes among students. It further alleged that the tender for publishing the new textbooks was awarded to an influential BJP leader associated with the Central government.
“There has been a Rs 380 crore scam in the publication of textbooks. The concerned minister, Nityananda Gond, is also involved in this corruption,” the BJD alleged.
Gond, however, said the state government was taking steps to ensure that error-free textbooks were distributed soon. Proofreading of the books is currently underway, he said, adding that the government was closely monitoring the process and making arrangements to provide corrected textbooks at the earliest.
With PTI inputs
