Patna: Patna High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to make available study books in schools within 15 days.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon passed the order on a public interest litigation filed by Shiv Prakash Rai.

Rai, in his petition, had said that though classes have started in the primary schools of the state, students have not been provided books so far which has hampered their studies.

Expressing its displeasure, the bench said: "How can children study if books are not given to them on time?... books should be provided to the schoolchildren on time."

The court was also not satisfied with the reply filed by the Bihar State Text Book Corporation (BSTBC) and directed education department principal secretary R.K. Mahajan to constitute a committee for early disbursal of books to students.

The committee will also report to the court after examining the impediments causing delay in delivering books to the children.

The matter will be heard again after one month.

A similar petition was also earlier filed by one Anand Kaushal Singh, in which the high court had last year directed the government to provide books to schoolchildren with immediate effect. However, the order has not been complied with in toto. The court in its order then had also ordered extra classes to compensate for the damage done due to non-availability of books.

To overcome the problem of non-availability of textbooks, the Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC) has started an initiative to supply old books to students after collecting them from former students.

The Bihar government provides free books to students from Class I to Class VIII, but they invariably reach students during the year-end, Arvind Kumar Sharma, the petitioner's counsel, told the court.