M A I N   N E W S

Textbook scam: ex-DPI, 4 others booked
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 6
A former Director, Public Instructions, Schools, Punjab, a serving PCS officer and a high-ranking government official, besides two publishers, have been booked by the state Vigilance Bureau for defrauding the government of lakhs of rupees in what is being termed as the textbook scam.

The accused were booked after a vigilance inquiry found them guilty of committing irregularities in the supply of textbooks to 334 schools of the state under the Operation Blackboard scheme, which was launched in Punjab with the financial support of the Centre. The inquiry revealed that the scheme meant for providing books to needy students through school libraries had gone awry.

The accused allegedly defrauded the government by selling and buying textbooks for middle and primary-level students at more than double the price approved by the government. They have also been found guilty of supplying old, worn-out textbooks to libraries by simply changing the cover page in order to make the books appear new.

A case under Sections 420,467, 468 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against Ms Vidyawati, a former DPI, Schools, Mr T.K. Goyal, a PCS officer who has gone abroad, Mr R.N. Gupta, Deputy Controller, Audit and Finance, Punjab, Mr Surinder Kumar Chawla, owner, Ravindra Parkashan, and Mr Vishal Chawla, owner of the Jalandhar-based International Publishers.

Mr R.P.S. Bajwa, SP (Vigilance), and the inquiry officer, said the state Vigilance Bureau ordered the registration of cases after the completion of the inquiry.

The inquiry report states that the case pertains to the supply of a large number of textbooks to the libraries of 334 primary and middle schools in the state. The supply was under the Operation Blackboard scheme which aimed at improving literacy and education standards among the weaker sections of society by providing them textbooks free of cost through school libraries. The total investment was more than Rs 1.30 crore.

However, a publisher filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1999 alleging that there were irregularities in the supply as well as quality of the textbooks. The high court ordered a Vigilance inquiry into the case.

According to the report, the publishers have been accused of defrauding the government by supplying the books directly to the District Education Officers in the state at more than the approved price. In one case, a book’s cost was about Rs 35 while it was sold at a price of Rs 90. The publishers allegedly picked up worn-out books from the scrap market and changed the covers to supply them as new ones.

Another allegation levelled against the publishers is that they violated the conditions of the supply contract by providing more copies of some books and not supplying others. This meant that books needed by more students were not available while other books which were very cheap or already available in plenty were supplied.

The former DPI, the serving PCS officer and the Deputy Controller, Audit and Finance, have been charged with not pointing out the alleged irregularities being committed by the publishers . The three were the members of the textbook purchasing committee and approved the supply which was later found to be improper.

Mr Bajwa said the accused were yet to be arrested.

Robbers loot train passengers, kill 2 cops

Lucknow, September 6
At least two policemen, including a head constable, of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) were killed and two policemen of the escort party were injured critically when armed criminals raided a sleeper coach of the Varanasi-bound Marudhar Express train in Farrukhabad district late last night.

Additional Director General of Police (Railways) D. P. Sinha told “UNI” here today that the criminals, looting the passengers, shot at the members of the escort party when they intervened.

The deceased were identified as a head constable of the RPF and a policeman of the district police. The injured, both from the escort party, received critical bullet injuries and were removed to a hospital at Farrukhabad for treatment.

The police has launched a search to nab the criminals, said to be 20 in number. UNI