BHUBANESWAR: Amid the raging controversy over large-scale errors in the new textbooks introduced for classes I to VIII, the directorate of Textbook Productions and Marketing (TBP&M) said that about Rs 21 crore has been spent towards outsourcing private presses as its own facilities were inadequate to handle a large-scale printing order.
Issuing a clarification to a grievance petition submitted to the chief minister’s office, the TBP&M directorate stated that it has not spent Rs 165 crore towards outsourcing of printing as alleged by the petitioner. It stated that the revised textbooks prepared for the 2026-27 academic calendar comprised a total of 55 books and the total requirement of new books was around 2.28 crore this year compared to 2.70 crore in the previous year as estimated by the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA).
Most of the new textbooks for 2026-27 contained comparatively more pages and required multi-colour printing. The entire printing volume could not be met solely by TBP&M. Accordingly a portion of the work was outsourced to private presses, strictly in accordance with the government decision, the directorate stated, clarifying the estimated expenditure for the outsourcing work was Rs 21 crore.
The state government has been under fire for detection of 1,678 factual, grammatical and typographical errors in the revised textbooks introduced this academic session in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the state curriculum framework 2025.
Acting on the instructions of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, the state government has constituted a three-member committee headed by development commissioner DK Singh to investigate the errors and fix responsibility on the officials or agencies concerned.