99% Balbharati textbook distribution complete: Officials
'Schools are starting from June 16. Books have reached everywhere, except for minor exceptions. This year, 5.7 crore books were printed as per demand. As per the decision taken by the state government, books for Class 1 have been made available as per New Education Policy (NEP),' said Krishnakumar Patil, director, Balbharati.
Last year, the distribution of textbooks by Balbharati faced several issues, such as delays in the delivery of textbooks, especially in remote areas. Many students received books many weeks after school began, and several textbooks had blank pages and missing content due to printing errors. There was also a shortage of several subject books in the market.
'To avoid repetition of these challenges, Balbharati has improved planning this year and completed 99% distribution before school reopening,' said Patil.
The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan initiative aims to ensure that no student from standard 1 to 8 is deprived of textbooks. The main objective is to achieve 100% attendance in schools and reduce dropout rates of students to zero through the free textbook distribution scheme of the government.
Under the initiative, Balbharati provides free textbooks to students from Class 1 to 8 enrolled in government and government-aided schools.
The distribution was executed according to the demand through Balbharati's network of regional warehouses, and book depots across Maharashtra, said officials.
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