EOI invited from publishers to buy books worth Rs 3 crore for govt schools

CHENNAI: The school education department is planning to procure books for libraries in more than 37,000 government schools across the State at a cost of Rs 3 crore. In a bid to avoid any controversy regarding the books chosen, the department has invited expressions of interest (EOI) from publishers as well as the public to procure the books, sources said.

Every year, the department procures books for Rs 5,000 for each primary school, Rs 13,000 for each middle school and Rs 15,000 to 20,000 for each higher secondary school. An official of school education department said last year, nearly 2,000 books were chosen by a committee and tenders were floated for procuring them.

“However, a publisher moved the court seeking reasons why his books were not chosen. So, we have now implemented a new process where we have asked for expressions of interest from the publishers,” he said. 

The department’s official website, tnschools.gov.in, has a form asking for the list of books that could be supplied and the range of discount that the publishers are willing to offer.Sources said the committee will choose the books from the list given by various publishers, and subsequently, the tender for procurement will be floated in another week. “This way, we will have a range of books to choose from and avoid any controversies over the selection of books. The amount sanctioned will be used to start libraries in schools that don’t have one,” they added.

A top official said the tender process for the procurement will be started only after the committee hands over the list of books to the Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation. The form is not limited to the publishers alone. Those interested can also upload a list of the books that would be useful for school children across the State.