Taking a serious note of the lapse, the State Government on Wednesday sought clarification from the Chairman of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, asking him to explain the factors contributing to the goof-up.
"I have sought a clarification from the Board Chairman and asked him to explain (the printing mistake)," Minister for School Education Rajendra Darda said.
The Minister's statement came after reports about the north-eastern State being missing in the map and the area also shown as part of Chinese territory, in textbooks printed by the State press, Balbharti. "The SSC Board is an autonomous body," the Minister said.
The geography textbooks are meant for Class-10 students affiliated to the Maharashtra State Board. Board chairman S Jadhav was unavailable for comment on how the wrong map made its way into the textbook and who vetted the controversial content.
The decades-old India-China border dispute over Arunachal Pradesh has cast its shadow on the geography textbook for 10th grade in Maharashtra. In a major gaffe, the north-eastern State, which China says is part of its territory, has been omitted from the map of India in the textbook, printed by Balbharti, bureau of textbook production and used by more than 15 lakh students affiliated to the Maharashtra State Board.
The erroneous map shows Arunachal Pradesh as not only "missing" from the country's territorial domain but also as being part of Chinese territory.
In such case will future generation students even be aware that Arunachal Pradesh is a state in India. Where is the history of India and its states going? Are they lacking behind is yet to be answered?