In August 2018, the Bihar state education department instructed district education officers (DEOs) and district programme officers (DPOs) to directly transfer money for the purchase of textbooks to the bank accounts of parents of underage students who do not have their own bank accounts. This was seen as a remedy following complaints by schools and parents that banks were refusing to open accounts for students under 10 years of age. Government officials said that the provision was for the 2018-19 academic session only.
In April 2018, the Bihar State Textbook Printing Corporation Limited empanelled 54 printing and publishing agencies to print books for classes I to VIII. Of the 2 crore (20 million) primary class students studying in Bihar government schools, only 30% received new textbooks directly from the government; the rest were using old textbooks provided by the schools and preserved from previous years. Earlier, the education department provided textbooks to students directly instead of granting a sum of money. In April this year, the state released Rs. 285 crore for direct transfer to students’ bank accounts for buying textbooks. However, while for students above 10 years of age opening a bank account is feasible, for those who are younger banks have resisted or declined opening accounts.
Direct transfer defeats textbooks
A recent survey by the Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC) reveals that only 18% of class I to VIII students in the government schools have purchased textbooks while the rest are using older textbooks preserved by their schools. Some students cannot purchase any textbooks as neither they nor their parents have bank accounts. Nevertheless, the BEPC survey shows that nearly 80% of the students received money in their bank accounts through direct transfer of funds.
Once the biggest source of revenue for offset printers, printing textbooks in Bihar is now a loss-stricken business. According to printers, if the current situation continues for another year or so, the textbook printing industry in Bihar will collapse.
“Earlier, the government provided the paper for printing textbooks, which has changed in the last couple of years. Printers have been instructed to produce the textbooks at their own cost and to distribute and sell them directly to the students. We used to print the textbooks for direct supply to the government, but for the past one year, that has changed. The government has now instructed us to print textbooks and circulate and sell these to schools in the state and directly collect money from the students,” says Rohit Jain, director of The Offsetters (India) Private Limited.
Lower sales at lower prices
The sale of textbooks in Bihar has crashed and the printers asked by the government to supply and sell these textbooks directly to students have suffered huge losses. “The entire process requires huge investment. We need to buy the paper, bear the cost of printing and then sell it directly to students. It really isn’t viable and perhaps only a few might succeed. Although the government is granting funds to students directly, those who belong to economically weaker sections often use these funds for their other more pressing personal expenses,” Jain adds.
The pricing of government textbooks is another serious issue. “The amount that is being granted to these students for purchasing textbooks is too low. They are being given a sum from Rs. 120 to Rs. 250 for buying books for classes I to VIII, which is not sufficient. These are extremely low prices for a set of textbooks,” Jain explains.
The low prices encourage and even compel the use of lower quality paper since the printers do not have the working capital to invest in consumables and overheads for which they have so far received almost nothing in return. Jain says, “Even if the government is subsidising textbooks, I don’t think a set of 7 or 8 textbooks would cost less than Rs. 700 to Rs. 800. We simply cannot afford to sell books at the specified low rates. Hence, some printers are using lower quality paper in a desperate attempt to save themselves from suffering further losses,” Jain informs.
Government chooses to play the blame game
As a consequence of the earlier policy and rising education demand, a couple of years ago more than 80 printers invested in web offset presses across the state. Rameshwar Nath Rai, proprietor of Super Offset Printers and Stationers says, “In those days, the paper was also being supplied by the government through Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC). However, since the paper that was being supplied by HPC often arrived late, it resulted in a delay in the textbook printing and binding process. As a result, the government began blaming the printers for the shortage, and untimely availability, of textbooks.”
Some of the textbook printers in Bihar say they will continue printing textbooks for the government only if the rules are amended in the coming academic year, failing which they will have to either migrate to commercial work or printing for private publishers. Since the government textbook work is still a relatively large quantity, other textbook printers say they will have to shut down their businesses.
