Odisha SCERT Director Arrested in ₹175 Crore Textbook Scam

Bhubaneswar, July 14: Odisha Police’s Crime Branch has arrested Manoj Kumar Padhy (57), former Director of TE & SCERT, in connection with a criminal conspiracy over erroneous school textbooks for Classes I–VIII.

According to officials, Padhy was responsible for supervising and approving manuscripts under the National Education Policy (NEP‑2020).

Investigators allege he approved textbooks without verifying factual, scientific, geographical, translation, and pictorial accuracy.

The errors reportedly caused a loss of nearly Rs 175 crore to the State Exchequer, while also undermining public interest.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed, and Padhy will be produced before the JMFC‑III Court, Kataka.

The Crime Branch stated that prima facie evidence has been established against him.