UP board orders drive to curb unauthorised books | Lucknow News
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Board (UPSEB) has asked its staff to conduct special drive involving continuous inspection of schools until April 15 to ensure students purchase no other books than those printed through publishers authorised by them.The measure, said UPSEB secretary Bhagwati Singh, is to ensure that high-quality textbooks are available at affordable rates and parents are not unnecessarily burdened. The three authorised publishers are Pitambara Books Private Limited, Jhansi, Pioneer Printers, Agra and Singhal Agencies, Lucknow. In all, they have published 82 textbooks from class nine to 12.Singh has asked all district inspectors of schools (DIOS), deputy and joint education directors to conduct continuous inspections and take strict punitive action — in accordance with the rules — against any institution, including teachers, principals and management, for coercing students to purchase unauthorised books or guides.UPSEB holds the copyright of these 82 textbooks. Singh asked officials to take legal action jointly with the relevant departments such as police, administration, commercial tax and income tax, in cases where unauthorised printers or booksellers are found engaging in piracy or duplication, specifically by selling counterfeit textbooks at inflated prices.Officials have been asked to carefully distinguish between authorised and unauthorised books. Books recommended by UPSEB have a unique seven-digit serial number, printed in ultraviolet fluorescent red ink on the front page of each textbook. A set of 10 books for class nine costs Rs 393, while that for class 10 is priced at Rs 440. For class 11, that will have seven books, the price is kept at Rs 458. Class 12 will pay Rs 412 for a set of eight books.Singh stated that it has come to the notice of UPSEB that unauthorised textbooks are being inappropriately circulated and utilised within schools. Further, certain institutions and booksellers — acting to serve their own private interests — have introduced textbooks and guidebooks from unauthorised private publishers into schools. These materials, Singh said, are priced between 149% and 361% higher than the rates prescribed by UPSEB.
