The Jammu Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) has published the 2024 edition of the tenth standard book Disaster Management and Road Safety Education, which has sparked controversy for replacing the word “state” with “UT” in multiple instances. This change has led to confusion among students and parents, as phrases such as “fainting is a state of human body” were modified to “fainting is a UT of human body,” and “state of shock” was changed to “UT of shock.”
State of affairs @Office_JKBoSE pic.twitter.com/QTRdGopwmH
— Waheed Para (@parawahid) February 15, 2025
It appears that a computer command was used to replace the word “state” with “UT” throughout the text, without considering the context in which the term was used. As a result, the alterations have impacted the educational material’s accuracy and meaning, leading to criticism from educators and the public.
The changes are linked to the reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, which led to the region’s conversion from a state to two Union Territories—Jammu Kashmir, and Ladakh. Since then, official documents and educational materials have been updated to reflect this new political status.
JKBOSE has not yet commented on the controversy, and it remains unclear whether the book will be revised again to correct the misleading phrases.