Goa government to recall Class 2 Marathi textbooks to fix error in national anthem
The recall was necessitated as last two lines of the anthem got deleted in the books
The BJP-led Goa government on Friday said it will rercall 13,000 Class 2 Marathi textbooks that contained incomplete version of the national anthem, a day after Congress accused it of insulting the anthem.
Speaking to reporters State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Director Nagaraj Honnekeri said a “technological” error led to the mistake.
“In our original CD there was no mistake. While printing, may be due to some software or other problem, last two lines of the anthem got deleted,” he said.
To rectify the mistake, the textbooks titled ‘Gomant Bharati’ will be recalled to replace the erroneous page with a corrigendum, Honnekeri said, adding fresh books will be given to the students soon.
“No additional expenditure will be incurred by the education department for reprinting the 13,000 pages of the books because the mistake was on the part of the printer,” he said.
Opposition Congress on Thursday said the error was an insult to the national anthem and the government should fix accountability for the mistake.
The latest controversy comes amid a debate over whether an increasingly assertive brand of nationalistic pride is stifling civil liberties. The debate was sparked after the Supreme Court last year asked all cinemas to play the national anthem before a film is screened “for the love of the motherland.”