Hans News Service Bhubaneswar

Normallife was partially disrupted in parts of Odisha on Wednesday due to a 12-hour bandh called by a farmers’ rights outfit over alleged large-scale errors in textbooks used in government schools, officials said. Shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed at several places in the State in the wake of the bandh call by the Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS).

Vehicular movement was impacted in some areas of Khordha, Bhadrak, Baleshwar, Jagatsinghpur and other districts as protesters blocked roads and burnt tyres. Most offices, however, functioned normally and train services were largely unaffected.

Essential and emergency services were kept out of the purview of the dawn-to-dusk bandh. Security was tightened across the State to prevent any untoward incident during the shutdown.

The NNKS has demanded the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over the “errors” in textbooks used in government schools. The outfit’s members have been observing a relay hunger strike since August 20 over the issue. NNKS national coordinator Akshay Kumar said the bandh was called “as the State government did not take accountability of the textbook errors”. Among the errors cited by the organisation were a reference to Niyamgiri Hills as being located in Jharkhand and a picture of the Karnataka Assembly being published in place of the Odisha Assembly. Scientist Isaac Newton was described as a pilot in the textbooks.