‘Manjari’ textbooks circulated to more than 50,000 students in the city printed late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s date of birth wrong – December 2, instead of December 25.
Published by Basic Education Department, the textbook has a brief biography of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Inside the book, a chapter stated that instead of December 25, Vajpayee was born on December 2. When contacted, principal secretary (Basic Education) Prabhat Kumar said that he has instructed the department to scrutinise all books for factual errors and rectify the same if any. Action will be taken against whosoever is responsible for the error in Atal Ji’s date of birth,” he added.
The book contains Vajpayee’s motivational poem “Aao Phir Se Diya Jalaye” in the last chapter – 21, which has been introduced in schools for the first time. It also has a brief details on the life of the former Prime Minister.
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A class VI school teacher in Agra, Geeta, said, “The text book is a source from where children gain knowledge but what they would learn from information that is factually incorrect.” A class VI student, Ajay Kumar said, “We believe in the printed word in text books and hence such errors should be checked and rectified.
Reacting to the error, All India Congress Committee Secretary Vivek Bansal claimed that “BJP is in the habit of distorting history, whether its about the country or its own leader.”
