Thousands of textbooks recovered in KP

PESHAWAR: Thousands of books worth millions of rupees meant for free distribution among the students of public sector educational institutions were recovered from the ‘dead stock’ of the central warehouse of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board on Thursday.
The officials responsible for the warehouse were asked to leave charge immediately and report to the board, while an inquiry was constituted to probe the matter and submit its report by Monday, said additional secretary elementary education Qaiser Alam, while addressing a hurriedly called press conference at the textbook board on Thursday evening.
Qaiser Alam, who is also having the additional charge of chairman textbook board, said that the recovered books from grade 1 to 10 were meant for free distribution among the students. “Keeping these books in the dead stock is sheer dishonesty and irregularity. The store in charge and concerned staff are responsible for the mess,” he said.
“A probe committee comprising subject experts of the board and headed by Dr Mohammad Usman has been formed to look into the matter, know actual number and cost of the books and fix responsibilities. In light of the findings of the probe committee, action would be taken against those found guilty under the efficiency and disciplinary rules,” he vowed.
The chairman said that the process of self-accountability had been introduced in the board and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Accountability Commission was also looking into various affairs of the board. The existing rules of the board were also being reviewed and all purchases were made under the rules of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Purchase Regulatory Authority, he added.
There were reports that the recovered books had been kept in the ‘dead stock’ by certain officials for secret sale in the market. The value of the books was over five million rupees.
The board chairman remarked that it was too early to guess the number and value of the books. However, its value was not less than millions, which were kept even below the ‘dead stock’, he confirmed.
A few weeks back police had also recovered thousands of old books from the market. Qaiser Alam said that the report of inquiry to this effect has been submitted and action would be taken accordingly. He added that the officials concerned in this case had not adopted the right procedure for disposing of the old books.
Some other reports suggested that there have been a number of irregularities of different kinds in the textbook board. Right from the quality of papers till receiving kickbacks from printers and publishers, every kind of corruption is made in the board, which is responsible for publication of millions of books worth billions of rupees each year for free distribution among students of the government-run schools.