Maharashtra: Class VI history textbook not printed due to delay in map approval

One week has passed since schools affiliated to the Maharashtra state board have begun classes for the new academic year and yet Class VI history textbooks have not even been sent for printing. The reason is an old map of India, which is a part of one of the chapters of the textbook, which is yet to get approval from the Survey of India office.

Every year, crores of textbooks are printed by the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research or Balbharati as it is popularly known. For printing any map, the body requires permission from the Survey of India. So, the printing of lakhs of textbooks is stuck for one signature, according to Balbharati officials.

There has already been a delay in the printing of books this academic year due to a court case regarding the same. So, of the nine crore textbooks which are printed every year, the printing this year has dropped by nearly two crore books, which means many students have not got their textbooks.

Dinkar Patil, chairman, Balbharati, said many government offices were not working at full strength due to the pandemic, which could be the reason for the delay. “Earlier, we would get our approval from the Delhi office of Survey of India, but we were recently told to approach the one in Kolkata, maybe the concerned department is there now. We had written to them but the approval is yet to come from there, it could be due to the pandemic situation. Before that arrives, we cannot go ahead with the printing. And since printing and distribution may take time, it will be available in e-book format first on our app,” he said.