Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): Jabalpur district administration has adopted a model that is helping parents to get books at one place at a discounted rate. Under a novel initiative, the administration has organised a 12-day book fair at Shaheed Smarak in Gol Bazar in Jabalpur. More than 50 stalls are selling books prescribed by private schools.
Chhindwara and Damoh district administration too have adopted the same model. However, Bhopal district administration is yet to adopt Jabalpur model. The school management still forces parents of students studying in private schools in Bhopal to buy costly books published by private publishers.
The state government has asked schools affiliated to CBSE and MPBSE to prescribe only NCERT or SCERT books for students of all classes. But private schools in the city have not followed it. “We have launched this initiative to promote transparency and accountability and curb profiteering by publishers. It will help parents buy all the books at one place, without having to run from one shop to another,” said Jabalpur district collector Deepak Saxena.
He said the vendors were selling books at 15 to 20 per cent discount on the cover price due to competition,. The book fair that began on March 25 will continue till April 5. And the result of the initiative is visible. The parents of a student of Class 8 in a leading school in Bhopal had to spend Rs 5,237 on buying the entire set of books. In Jabalpur, the set of books for the same class was available for just Rs 565.
Similarly, in Bhopal, the price of a set of books for Class 4 was Rs 4,093. In Jabalpur, the set was available for Rs 1,402. Prabodh Pandya, general secretary, Palak Mahasangh, said making books available at one place at a discounted price was a good initiative. But the key issue was why schools were allowed to prescribe books by private publishers. “Where is the need for non-NCERT and non-SCERT books? ” he asked.
He also said that the schools in the district were supposed to make available the list of books prescribed by them for Classes 1-12 to District Education Officer by January 15. They were also supposed to put up the lists on the school notice board and upload it on the designated portal. However, the schools did not adhere to deadline.
“On March 24, the date was extended to March 31,” he said. “We are overburdened. We spent around Rs 6,000 on books and Rs 5,000 on uniform recently for my son who studies in Class 8 in a reputed school,” said a parent.
I will get the Jabalpur model examined. As for schools providing the lists of prescribed books, the DEO is the designated authority. Action will be taken against schools which have not done the needful.
-Kaushlendra Vikram Singh, Collector, Bhopal
