Short supply of NCERT books leaves parents in limbo

The new academic session has already begun in schools but the supply of NCERT text books for Mathematics and History for secondary classes is short in the market in the national capital, leaving parents in limbo.
While book shop owners say they have either not received any supply from distributors or have got only limited stocks, parents are hopping from one place to another to find the books but with little success.
NCERT officials, however, maintained there is no shortage of printing or supply of books at their end.
"The session has already started and I could not find mathematics book for my daughter who is in Class VI. The school bookstore also did not have it neither the 4-5 stores that we went to in different areas of Delhi.

"Maths is one of the mainstream subjects, the students will suffer if the books aren't available on time as classes have already begun," said a parent residing in South-West Delhi.
Another parent said, "I had to get the book photocopied for my child from one of his friends who had managed to buy it. It is not possible to manually check out each and every store in Delhi to find out if a particular book is available or not".

The book-store owners in some of the prominent schools said they have been informed that enough books haven't been printed and they will be available after April 15.

Some book stores in Connaught place and Patel Nagar area said they are short of mathematics books from Class 6 to 8 and History book of class 9.
"There is no shortage at NCERT's end and adequate copies have been printed. This type of logistical problem arises sometimes but is beyond NCERT's control. At times the retailers develop a nexus with private publishers to hold supply of these books to encourage sale of their books," an NCERT official said.
"The supply at our end is upto the mark and those who are facing problems can also contact our distribution centres. Also all the books are available for download on NCERT website," the official added.