New Delhi: A day after AAP alleged irregularities in Delhi govt’s procurement of school textbooks, education minister Ashish Sood Saturday rejected the charges, claiming that govt had bought a Class-VIII Hindi textbook for Rs 28.60 against the Rs 65 book cited by AAP.
Sood said Delhi govt had procured Malhar for Rs 28.60 per copy, substantially below the Rs 65 book cited by AAP. He further claimed that under the previous AAP govt in 2022, a Griha Vigyan textbook of comparable dimensions was printed for Rs 55 per copy. The minister also referred to two letters dated Aug 17 and Sept 6, 2023, and issued by the then education secretary, which, Sood said, raised concerns about the quality of printing and textbooks supplied during the previous govt’s tenure.
He also accused the opposition party of misleading the public by making allegations without verifying procurement rates and tender specifications, describing the allegations as an example of what he called its “hoot and shoot” politics.
Responding to allegations of 40% commission, Sood said, “Tell lies, make false claims of 40% commission, and run away. The highest price for a Class VIII textbook was Rs 110 under the previous govt in 2022, compared with Rs 50.40 under the current procurement, according to figures presented by Sood. For Class VII, he cited a reduction from Rs 103 to Rs 75.90, while for Class VI, he claimed the corresponding prices had fallen from Rs 133 to Rs 57.80.
He claimed that a “60% commission business” ran during AAP’s tenure, “which would be exposed soon”. Responding to Sood’s clarification, AAP said the minister had acknowledged that the books were smaller than NCERT textbooks, and demanded that Sood make public the file proposing penalties against the vendor for delays in supplying the books. AAP also said Delhi govt should get the paper quality tested at a laboratory and bring the truth out in public.
They don’t even know the price of a single book, yet they claim a scam. Refuting AAP’s claim of higher textbook costs, the minister claimed that textbook prices had declined across several classes, despite inflation.