Bhubaneswar: Nearly a month after school education department stumbled upon 1,678 errors in textbooks for classes 1 to VIII, the crime branch on Tuesday took into custody Manoj Kumar Padhy (57), former director of Teacher Education & State Council of Educational Research and Training (TE & SCERT), the first such arrest in the case that Odisha CM had described as a big conspiracy.The crime branch said Padhy allegedly conspired and deliberately allowed error‑ridden content to be published and circulated among students of classes I–VIII, causing embarrassment to the govt.On June 25, in an exclusive interview with TOI, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi had termed the errors in school textbooks a “possible conspiracy” and warned of strict punitive action against those responsible.He ordered a crime branch probe on July 11, warning that officials responsible would have to reimburse the govt for losses caused by the printing of error-ridden books.Padhy, a senior Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer, was also suspended along with three assistant directors on June 26.“Padhy was entrusted with overall supervision, coordination, monitoring and approval of the textbook development process under NEP‑2020. He dishonestly failed to discharge his duties and knowingly approved manuscripts without verifying factual, scientific, geographical, translation and pictorial content, amounting to criminal negligence,” the crime branch said in a written statement.Padhy was arrested on charges of “conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and framing incorrect documents with intent to cause injury.”The textbook errors triggered widespread resentment among teachers and students. The school and mass education department subsequently issued a corrigendum, asking schools to help students rectify the mistakes.However, the corrigendum itself came under criticism for introducing fresh errors. SCERT reportedly flagged several correct portions in textbooks as mistakes.“During investigation, we found Padhy’s conspiracy and negligence led to the publication and distribution of faulty textbooks, causing wrongful loss of about Rs 175 crore to the state exchequer,” a senior officer said.The agency has not yet disclosed Padhy’s motive or personal gain. “We are verifying his bank statements and other details. If necessary, he will be taken on remand for interrogation to extract further details about the involvement of others,” the officer added.
