Education Minister P.K. Abdu Rabb on Thursday said it was up to Printing and Stationery Minister K.P. Mohanan to inquire into the allegation that there was foul play involving the Kerala Books and Publications Society (KBPS) that led to the last-minute outsourcing of the printing of textbooks by the Education Department. He said the department would not press for an inquiry into the textbook printing fiasco immediately.
Addressing the media here, Mr. Rabb said there was no delay in finalising the print order and handing over the stationery to the government presses and the KBPS.
“The Education Department had made the same arrangements as last year for finalising the print order of the textbooks and as it happens every year, the final print order was decided in November itself. But at the review meeting held on April 29 this year the KBPS said for the first time that it would not be able to complete the printing on time. By then, it was too late,” Mr. Rabb said.
“e-tenders are being opened today and once the print orders are given, we expect the printing to be completed this month. About 80 per cent of the textbooks have already been supplied and the printing of only about 40 lakh books remains,” he added.
On whether there had been some foul play involving the KBPS, which led to the government giving textbooks printing to the private sector, Mr. Rabb said it was evident that “something went wrong somewhere”.
