Bhubaneswar, July 22: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has officially clarified that the historic Paika Rebellion of 1817 has not been excluded from the Class VIII Social Science curriculum.

The topic will be featured in the second volume of the textbook, scheduled for release in September–October 2025, under the section on regional resistance movements, the NCERT said.

Despite this clarification, political tensions have escalated following a social media post by former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik, who expressed concern over the alleged omission. His remarks sparked widespread debate, with School & Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond and Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling strongly rebutting the claims, calling them “misleading” and “politically motivated”.

The Paika Rebellion, led by Bakshi Jagabandhu, is widely regarded as India’s first armed resistance against British colonial rule, predating the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny by four decades.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has previously honored the movement with a commemorative coin and stamp in 2017, and plans are underway to establish a Paika Memorial at Barunei Hill near Khordha, the rebellion’s historic battleground.

For the pride and identity of Odisha, a grand statue of Paika hero Bakshi Jagabandhu is planned to be installed at the foothills of Barunei Hill. On December 8, 2019, former President Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone for the Paika Memorial. At that time, then Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had allocated Rs 100 crore through Indian Oil Corporation for the project.

However, the then BJD government, despite initially agreeing to provide free land, later adopted a delaying strategy. Now, Naveen Patnaik’s social media post on the subject has drawn criticism from the Kalinga Paika Sangathan, which has accused him of raising the issue unnecessarily.

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