The Maharashtra government on Thursday ordered withdrawal of Class 10 geography textbooks that excludes Arunachal Pradesh from the map of India. CM Prithviraj Chavan termed it an “unpardonable mistake” to exclude Arunachal Pradesh from the map of India published in the textbooks and disbanded the committee of experts which had approved of the textbook.
“Orders have been issued to stop circulation of the textbooks to students and efforts are on to get back the books that have been circulated,” he told reporters in Delhi. Mr Chavan said the government was evaluating options on how to replace the textbooks that have already been distributed.
“An inquiry is underway to find out how this mistake has happened and who is responsible for this. I have directed the education minister to take strict action against those responsible for this,” he said. The textbooks have been printed by the state-run Balbharti and approved by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE). As many as 17 lakh copies of the textbook have been printed.
Krishna B. Patil, secretary MSBSHSE, Pune said, “It was found that out of the nine maps of India, eight maps were proper, but the ninth map did not have Arunachal Pradesh in the Indian map,” said Mr Patil.
He further added that on conducting a preliminary inquiry it was found that the mistake occurred while reducing the size of the map. The printer, publishers, editors and page makers will be taken to task for the mistake,” said Mr Patil.
Meanwhile, the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad took out a morcha to the MSBSHSE Mumbai division office to protest against the erroneous map. “The government should apologise to the people of Arunachal Pradesh, suspend all members of the board of studies that approved the textbook, recall the one printed and print new ones in its place,” said Yadunath Deshpande, spokesperson of Mumbai unit of ABVP during the protest at Vashi on Thursday.