With no grants from J&K Govt, printing textbooks burdens JKBOSE

Srinagar, Jun 19: The JK Board of School Education is grappling to meet the expenditures incurred on the printing and production of the textbooks for the government as well as private schools across Jammu and Kashmir.

The move has come to fore amid the complaints of delayed free distribution of the textbooks to the schools every year during the onset of the academic session.

A top official told Greater Kashmir that the JKBOSE was facing immense problems because of no grants or budgetary allocations from the J&K government for printing and publication of textbooks. "We get Rs 250 for each set of textbooks for classes from 1st primary to class 5th, which does not suffice the requirement as the production cost has gone exponentially high," a top official told Greater Kashmir. The official said the amount received was minimal when compared to the market rates.

"Due to the gap in the funds received from Government of India under Samagra Shiksha and the actual costs, we have a huge liability towards the agencies engaged for printing of textbooks," the official said. He said lack of funds for printing and publication of textbooks was one of the major burdens for the JKBOSE. "We have written to the government a number of times regarding this issue in the past. Even fresh communication was submitted to the government a few months ago. But the government has not yet taken any action about it," the official told Greater Kashmir. He said that Rs 250 allotted for each textbook set, as per the Samagra Shiksha norms was uniform rate everywhere. "But JKBOSE has to manage everything from Delhi. We incur more expenditure on ferrying of textbooks. Storage cost, transport cost, and other things become a big liability which is piling up with each passing year," the official said.

He said the major problem in JKBOSE was the absence of a permanent Chairman which at times hampers policy decisions. "Given the present condition, it is better to relieve JKBOSE from publication of textbooks. The JKBOSE should concentrate on examinations, registrations and curriculum development, syllabus formation. Job of printing textbooks should be given to other sections of the department," the official said.

The official said the financial health of JKBOSE has constantly come down over the years. "One of the potential reasons for these bad finances is the liability that we are incurring yearly on the printing of books," the official said. Talking to Greater Kashmir, Education Minister Sakina Itoo acknowledged that the funds provided to JKBOSE through Samagra Shiksha were less. "It is true that the funds allocated to JKBOSE for textbooks are insufficient. If we expect quality, the financial support provided to JKBOSE must be proportionate to that expectation," Itoo told Greater Kashmir. The education minister said the issue will be taken up with the department. "Let us see what can be done," she said.