Cash-starved PSEB stops printing books

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 23

The Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has stopped printing books for students. It has no paper or any money to pay for printing or publishing books. The state government has also not paid the examination fees for Schedules Caste (SC) students this session.

The board coffers are empty. Besides an amount of approximately Rs 65 crore for the ongoing academic session, the government owes approximately Rs 262 crore in arrears to the board for previous years. The board needed at least 500 metric tonnes of paper to print books for students.

A senior functionary of the board said, “We are not getting our dues paid despite meetings all concerned in the government several times. The board has communicated to the Departments of Education, Social Justice and Empowerment and Finance during meetings and also through written communication on several occasions. The ministers concerned were also duly informed about the state of affairs of the board.”

The officer said “After repeated rounds of different offices, the government in January this year assured us to pay approximately Rs 132 crore to tide over the immediate problems. However, not a single penny has come till date.”

Chairman of the PSEB Manohar Kant Kalohia said, “We are facing certain financial constraints in making our payments to the printers and publishers, but the matter is under consideration at the highest level. We have been assured of an early payment.”

The office of the Director General, School Education (DGSE), has communicated to the board that the state government this year had not made any provision in the budget for paying examination fees of SC students and providing them books. “We have recently asked the schools to collect payments,” a senior official said. The board has also not made any payment to the staff on duty for the Class X and XII examinations conducted recently, including the charges for CCTV cameras and vehicles used.\

Coffers empty

The board coffers are empty. Besides an amount of nearly Rs 65 crore for the ongoing academic session, the government owes approximately Rs 262 crore in arrears to the board for previous years. The board needed at least 500 metric tonnes of paper to print books for students.