Bhubaneswar: Defending the inclusion of Rajasthani folk song ‘Nimbuda Nimbuda’ in school textbooks, school and mass education minister Nityananda Gond on Thursday accused Opposition parties of creating “unnecessary controversies” without understanding the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020, even as the BJD launched a week-long statewide ‘Save Education Movement’.Gond said the NEP seeks to familiarise students with India’s rich and diverse folk traditions and cultural heritage. “Nimbuda Nimbuda is an important and popular Rajasthani folk song and continues to enjoy popularity even today. It has been included in the textbook to introduce children to the country’s folk heritage,” the minister said during his visit to Nabarangpur.He alleged that the Opposition was uncomfortable with the successful implementation of the NEP in Odisha, and was therefore attempting to create controversies around the new textbooks. “The Opposition has neither read the books nor understood the provisions of the NEP before making allegations,” Gond said.Meanwhile, the Opposition BJD on Thursday launched the ‘Save Education Movement’, demanding immediate resignation of Gond on moral grounds, supply of error-free textbooks to students without delay and a thorough investigation into the alleged irregularities in textbook printing and publication.The agitation, scheduled to continue till July 15 across all districts, began in Baripada in Mayurbhanj, where thousands of members of the Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) and Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD) marched to the collector’s office and staged a demonstration.Leading the protest, BYJD state president Chinmaya Sahu and BCJD state president Ipsita Sahu accused the BJP govt of refusing to acknowledge its mistakes or withdraw the defective textbooks even months after the issue came to light.Responding to criticism, minister Gond said the state govt had already taken action against officials found responsible for the mistakes. “You have not read the books, but now you are questioning the academicians and experts who prepared the new textbooks,” he said.The Opposition party also alleged irregularities worth nearly Rs 380 crore in the printing and publication of the textbooks and reiterated its demand for a CBI probe into the entire exercise. It further alleged that the textbook controversy was not merely an administrative lapse but an assault on Odia language, literature, culture and heritage.The BJD warned that it would intensify the agitation across the state if the govt failed to act swiftly on its demands.
