SSA textbooks dumped in godown

A huge number of textbooks published and printed under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) was found dumped in the godown of a waste-water dealer in Durg district of Chhattisgarh.

The cost of the books was estimated at more than Rs 5 lakh. The books were published by the state-run textbooks corporation and were supposed to be distributed free of cost to the students under SSA.

"We have constituted a two-member committee comprising senior department officials to probe the matter," Director of Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission K R Pishda said. Once the committee submitted the report, necessary action would be taken, he added.

The textbook corporation officials, however, clarified that their agency was not under the scanner. One official said that the corporation was assigned only to print the books. The stock was handed over to the agencies concerned and it was their job to ensure distribution to different centres.

Preliminary investigation conducted by the department suggested that the books were purchased by the dealer from a Centre in Arang development block of Raipur district. The books were reported sold by inviting tender, in which the dealer reportedly qualified. The former chief minister of Chhattisgarh and senior Congress leader, Ajit Jogi, had demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident.

"In 2009-10, the Union Government had given Rs 1,100 crore for the SSA to Chhattisgarh," Jogi said in a statement issued here. Of the amount, the state government could spend even 55 per cent of the amount. "Everyone is witness to how effectively the remaining money has been spent as the books are lying in waste-paper dealer's godown," he added.