Haryana cancels textbook contract with Mumbai firm

The Board of School Education Haryana has cancelled its contract with a Mumbai-based firm for publishing school books under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme, an official said Monday.

The Bhiwani-based board scrapped its deal with Mumbai's Printek Graphics India Pvt Ltd for publishing and supplying syllabus books from Class 3 to Class 8 under the SSA programme.

A letter by the board to district elementary education officers (DEEO) Aug 8 said: "The board has cancelled its contract with firm Printek and a letter regarding cancellation has been sent to the concerned company."

"The new session started April 2013 but the publisher failed to provide the books. The education department started a class readiness programme with old books so that students did not suffer," an official told IANS.

"The contract was cancelled because the publisher failed to provide books even after summer vacations," he added.

"There are nearly 15 lakh students in Haryana from Class 1 to Class 8. They still don't have this year's books. How will they finish their courses?" an official said.

"There are five syllabus books for Class 3. The number increases with each class, reaching 11 books for Class 8," Balbir Majoka, an education department official, told IANS.