Bhubaneswar, March 11: After being criticised from all quarters for repeatedly failing to deliver school textbooks, the school and mass education department is taking no chances this time.

Officials in the department are on their toes to make sure that books reach the students before April 15 for the 2011-2012 academic session.

The blueprint of the distribution system was discussed with all circle inspectors (CI) and district inspectors (DI) of schools in a recent convention, which was organised here. As many as 2,26,00,000 textbooks have already been printed and are ready for distribution. “We have already started sending the books to various blocks. About 1.51 crore books have already been sent,” said a senior official in the department.

All blocks will receive the books by March 20, following which books will be distributed to schools by April 15. The entire process will be monitored by CIs and DIs.

Private and non-government schools will get the textbooks from authorised centres to be set up in the districts. A total of 15 lakh books will be sold from these centres. The address of authorised centres, along with the price list, will be published in all leading newspapers within a few days, the office said.

Each district will have not more than three centres and action will be taken on those who try to sell textbooks illegally. The department had this year roped in 89 printing press and 216 binders for the purpose. While the state government printed about 30 lakh textbooks, the remaining textbooks were printed in private press.

Besides providing books on time, the department also plans to create book banks in schools, which can be used during times of crisis. Students who pass out can voluntarily donate their used books. The donated books will be collected and stored to create a book bank.

Priya Abraham

Bhubaneswar, March 11: Hit by criticism from all quarters for its repeated failure to deliver school textbooks, the school and mass education is taking no chances this time.

Officials in the department are on their toes to make sure that books reach the students before April 15 for the academic session 2011-2012.

Blueprint of the distribution system was discussed with all circle inspector and district inspector of schools in a recent convention organised here. As many as 2,26,00,000 textbooks have already been printed and are ready for distribution. “We have already started sending the books to different blocks. About 1.51 crore books have already been sent,” informed a senior official in the department.

All blocks will receive the books by March 20 following which books will be distributed to schools by April 15. The entire process will be monitored by CIs and DIs.

Private and non-government schools will get the textbooks from the various authorised centers in the district. A total of 15 lakh books will be sold from these centers. The address of authorized centers along with the price list will be published in all leading newspapers in a few days, said the office..

Each district will have not more than three center and action will be taken on those trying to sell the textbooks illegally.

The department had this year roped in 89 printing press and 216 binders for the purpose. While the state government printed about 30 lakh textbooks, the remaining were printed in private press.

Besides providing books on time, the department also plans to create book banks in schools that can be used during crisis period. Students who pass out can voluntarily donate their used books with the headmaster of the school These books will be collected and stored to create a book bank.