New Delhi, May 23: An umbrella organisation of publishers of educational books has pointed out that a 12 per cent tax has been levied on children's colouring books whereas "semi-pornography" books have been exempt under the goods and services tax, drawing attention to the perceived contradictions in the new levy regime.

"Semi-porn for free, but pay for colouring books," the Federation of Educational Publishers in India (FEPI) has titled its short media statement.

"Under the Centre's landmark GST initiative, all books, including those on semi-pornography, have been exempted from taxation, but books on educational activities have been taxed. The decision to levy 12 per cent tax on educational activity books is not a progressive move as it poses financial strains on parents. It must be dropped," FEPI treasurer Subhash Goel said.

The FEPI gave the GST Council the benefit of doubt, with president R.K. Gupta terming the tax pattern a "major oversight". He called for a rollback.

FEPI has written to the Prime Minister's Office and the finance ministry seeking a review, pointing out that taxing children's books will be counter-productive when efforts are being made to bring more children under the educational fold. "It will be a major burden on millions of children and their parents, who will have to bear the burden of more expensive books," Gupta said.

According to him, there is no basis for "underestimating" the utility of colouring books vis-a-vis text books and reference books.

Goel said colouring books and other educational material used by children under 12 were not one-time buys. "Children at that age tend to waste a lot of paper and four sets of such books are bought by parents on an average in an academic year, making the recurrent cost steep under GST," he said.