National Anthem, State Song Errors Found in Odisha Class I Textbook; Department Says Allegations ‘Unjustified’

06 Aug 2026, 06:48 by Vinay Kakkad · KalingaTV

The Odisha government’s school textbook controversy has widened after fresh errors were detected in a Class I Odia textbook supplied to English-medium private schools, with inaccuracies found in both Jana Gana Mana, India’s National Anthem, and Bande Utkala Janani, the state’s official song.

The latest revelations come even as the state is grappling with the fallout from large-scale errors identified in textbooks used by students of Classes I to VIII in Odia-medium government schools. While the institutions concerned are privately managed, the Odia language textbooks used by their students are supplied by the School and Mass Education Department as reported by the PTI.

The newly identified mistakes have renewed questions over the quality control mechanisms adopted during the preparation, editing and proofreading of school textbooks. The presence of errors in two of the country’s and the state’s most significant ceremonial compositions has further intensified scrutiny of the publication process.

Responding to the issue, the School and Mass Education Department rejected the allegations, describing them as “unjustified.”, It maintained that the process of rectifying mistakes in the textbooks is already underway and that necessary corrections are being carried out.

The latest development has surfaced at a time when the CID-Crime Branch of the Odisha Police is investigating the larger textbook controversy involving government schools. The agency is probing the circumstances that led to widespread factual, grammatical and editorial errors in textbooks prepared for students from Classes I to VIII in Odia-medium schools.

The discovery of fresh inaccuracies in books supplied to English-medium private schools suggests that the textbook quality issue extends beyond government-run institutions, adding another layer to the ongoing controversy and keeping the state’s textbook preparation and review process under close public scrutiny.