A printer who was penalised seven years ago by the Department of Primary and Secondary Education for delay in providing textbooks to students has now petitioned the government to waive the penalty of ₹68.65 lakh.
Telangana-based Brahma Teja Paper Products has written to the Principal Secretary and the minister for Primary and Secondary Education attributing the delay in fulfilling of the order to a political agitation and a bandh. “Since our office and factory are located in a troublesome and highly sensitive area, we lost valuable productive time of nearly 25 days during the order period. Workers did not turn up for work and the factory was closed.”
The company said that heavy rain in Karnataka further delayed delivery.
The company claims difficulty in paying bank interest and supporting its 40 employees due to the penalty, and has asked the government to consider waiving the same on ‘humanitarian grounds’.
Sources in the department said that the issue was revived after the State government in March 2018 decided to waive the penalty on a Bengaluru-based printer.
“This was done because of a shortage of paper and delay in providing content for the textbooks. The case of Brahma Teja Paper Products is different,” said a source in Karnataka Textbook Society.
