Editorial
Missing textbook supply deadline
If there is a syndicate, go after it
Some days ago we expressed our concern that the distribution of textbooks to primary school students would miss the deadline because of the all too obvious lethargy which seemed to be working among the printers. We did raise questions about such a pace of work and we did wonder why, before they embarked on the task of entrusting the printing job to the relevant firms, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) authorities did not make a proper, well-planned schedule regarding the distribution of the books. In such critical areas as education, it is expected that all the probable difficulties and loopholes will be handled before activities like book printing and distribution are undertaken. Indeed, the fact that in the past too such difficulties arose in the school textbook sector should have been reason enough for the authorities to be extremely careful in handling the situation.
Be that as it may, our fears of the primary school textbook distribution deadline being missed look about to come true, if not fully then at least partly. The problem now is that one of the printers entrusted with the printing job (of about 10 per cent or 2.08 crore copies of the textbooks) has clearly demonstrated its inability to carry out its responsibility. As the NCTB would have us know, the Sarkar Group, the printer in question, has so far been unable to supply 45 per cent of the textbooks on its quota. With hardly fifteen days left for the distribution of the textbooks to begin at the country's primary schools, it is pretty outrageous that a good number of students will not be able to have their books in hand for quite some days after they begin classes. The question that one now faces is: why did the printer fall behind in meeting its target? A rather sinister answer rears its head, which is that a syndicate of press owners close to the Sarkar Group may be engaged in shady moves to delay the production in order to create a field for some to print the books illegally and supply them at a price to the schools. Which leads one to the next question: if that suspicion is there, why do the authorities not go straight into the business of flushing out the syndicate and at the same time launching a thorough inquiry into the reasons behind the Sarkar Group's delaying tactics in the printing affair?
We believe a couple of moves have now become necessary on the part of the authorities. In the first place, make sure, through engaging new printers on an emergency basis, that all the textbooks are printed and are distributed to students as early as possible. In the second, this question of a syndicate must be fully and purposefully looked into. Finally, the lapses that have already become evident must serve as a lesson for the future. Let the same story not be repeated next year.
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