JAGATSINGHPUR: The School and Mass Education department, on Tuesday, directed the president of Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha to take steps for correction of alleged errors in the names of villages under Kujang tehsil in class ten history books on freedom struggle and Salt satyagraha. The district administration of Jagatsinghpur has also been asked to conduct an inquiry into the alleged flaws and submit a report.
As per history, in 1930, Mahatma Gandhi launched ‘Laban Satyagraha’ (salt movement) rally from Sabarmati to Dandi. Soon, freedom fighters from Odisha Narayan Birabar Samant, known as ‘Kujang Gandhi’, Rama Devi and Malati Chaudhury, also started the salt movement in Kujang. Later, queen of Kujang Bhagyabati Pata Mahadei also joined the Kujang salt movement during the time.
However, on page 22 of History and Political Science text book of Class X under the BSE published by Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad, Odisha in 2021, the names of the villages under Kujang have been mentioned as Paradip, Erasama, Gadua, Baradia, Kalighat. While Chatua has been wrongly spelt as ‘Gadua’, Bagadia as ‘Baradia’ and Kaliapata has been mentioned as ‘Kalighat’. Though the errors are being published since eight years, no steps have yet been taken to rectify these errors, said locals of the villages expressing resentment.
Organisations like Kujang Sahitya Sanskruti Parishad, Agradutta and Priyabandhu had sought the intervention of the BSE and the district administration in the matter.
Additional secretary of SME department Sangram Mohapatra informed that the names of these villages have been published in the history book of class ten from the last eight years. Now since the department has received allegations from different organizations of Kujang, the president of BSE, Odisha has been asked to make the correction and tehsildar Kujang to conduct an inquiry and submit a report soon. “Steps will be taken to correct the errors from next year,” he said.