According to Indian media reports, this song has been included in the 8th grade art education textbook ‘Kirti’, which was prepared under India’s National Education Policy 2020.
The textbook includes the lyrics of the song ‘Namboda Namboda’ from the famous Bollywood film ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ as a Rajasthani folk song, however, this song was filmed on Aishwarya Rai and Salman Khan in the blockbuster film which was released in 1999.
According to Indian media, as soon as the pictures of the textbook went viral on social media, people expressed their anger over the inclusion of songs from Bollywood films in the textbook instead of promoting the cultural and folk heritage of Odisha.
According to the report, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Education Minister Nityanand Gond have ordered immediate action on the matter, while senior officials of the state’s Council of Educational Research and Training have also been suspended.
The report also states that the state government has ordered a formal investigation against 6 SCERT officials, has set up a special inquiry committee to investigate the matter, after which the committee has also recommended the establishment of a quality assurance cell to strengthen the review process of future textbooks and prevent similar mistakes.