Dharmendra Pradhan exit sparks calls for Odisha, Chhattisgarh ministers to resign

Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik said Gond should “follow the example of Dharmendra Pradhan” and resign. “There have been a number of mistakes in the textbooks given to the students of our state. He (Gond) should follow the example of Dharmendra Pradhan and resign from his post,” Patnaik said, adding that the BJD had been demanding his resignation for weeks.

The BJD has launched a statewide agitation over the issue and is expected to intensify its protests. The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee has also issued a seven-day ultimatum, threatening an Odisha bandh if Gond does not resign.

The controversy erupted after 1,678 errors were detected in 55 SCERT textbooks for classes 1 to 8, including factual inaccuracies, grammatical mistakes, spelling errors and incorrect references. The highest number of errors — 705 — was found in class 8 textbooks. Among the mistakes were Niyamgiri Hills being said to be located in Jharkhand instead of Odisha, the Karnataka Assembly building being identified as the Odisha Vidhan Sabha, Sir Isaac Newton being described as a “great pilot”, and Karnataka’s Hampi historical site being identified as the Konark Sun Temple.

The Odisha government had initially suspended four senior State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) officials, including its director, before Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ordered a Crime Branch probe, alleging a “larger conspiracy”. The Crime Branch has since arrested former SCERT director Manoj Kumar Padhy, alleging criminal conspiracy and negligence in approving textbooks without verifying their factual, scientific and geographical accuracy, resulting in an estimated loss of Rs 175 crore to the state exchequer.

The BJP hit back at the Opposition, with party MLA Laxman Munda saying the BJD had presided over several irregularities during its tenure and had never sought ministerial resignations then.

Protests in Raipur

In Chhattisgarh, more than 100 students, activists and political workers gathered in Raipur on Sunday demanding the resignation of School Education Minister Gajendra Yadav, compensation for the family of a NEET aspirant who died by suicide, and reforms in the education system.

Among the protesters was research scholar Sonam Bansod, who said their demand for Pradhan’s resignation had been met, but they were now seeking compensation for Harika Rao Naidu, a 20-year-old NEET aspirant from Jagdalpur who died by suicide after failing to clear the re-examination conducted following the paper leak. Protesters also referred to the leak of the class 12 Hindi examination paper earlier this year.

“Our main demand for Pradhan’s resignation was met. Our second demand is compensation for Harika Rao Naidu…, whose name is not on the list of students who died by suicide. Thirdly, we demand state education minister Gajendra Yadav’s resignation because he said that Dharmendra Pradhan should take back his resignation,” Bansod said.

The Congress youth wing also joined the protest, demanding the resignation of Yadav. Sushil Anand Shukla, the communications head of the Chhattisgarh Congress, told The Indian Express, “The Congress party is demanding Gajendra Yadav’s resignation because in the last two and a half years, he has failed to fill the massive vacancy of teachers in the state, and during his tenure, thousands of government schools have been shut.”

Hitting back at the Congress, BJP spokesperson Kedar Gupta said, “The level of education in Chhattisgarh has improved under the leadership of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and the results are much better when compared to the results during the Congress rule.” He said there was “no question” of the state Education Minister’s resignation, adding, “We welcome genuine protests, but the Congress party wants to take political mileage out of students.”