Notice served on Jalandhar school over sale of books at designated place

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 10

The District Education Department has issued a show-cause notice to Seth Hukum Chand Senior Secondary School for allegedly forcing parents to purchase books and notebooks from a designated makeshift book centre set up at the first floor of a hotel in Dada Colony near railway crossing.

Taking up the issue of exorbitantly priced syllabus books available only at a designated site for a particular school, Jalandhar Central Aam Aadmi Party MLA Raman Arora had conducted a surprise check at a godown of a vacant hotel building on Adda Tanda Road on Friday

In the notice, it was stated that the department had received complaints from parents against the school over their alleged involvement in the sale of books. The parents, in the complaints, claimed that the school had given them the contact number of this makeshift book centre which has been selling syllabus books at exorbitant prices.

The parents said since they were getting book sets at inflated prices from this centre, they tried purchasing the same books from other shops in the market, but to no avail. “By indulging in such activities, the school had violated the orders of the Punjab Government, which clearly debar private schools from compelling students to purchase books, notebooks, stationery and uniform from any particular shop,” the notice further reads.

Meanwhile, the officials of the Education Department, during a surprise check at the centre, a person named Sunny Sharma, who works at the school’s canteen, was present at the spot. Besides, books and notebooks having the logo and name of the school printed on it were found in a huge quantity.

Talking to The Tribune, Rajiv Joshi, Deputy DEO (Secondary), said taking cognisance of the complaints filed by the parents, the department had issued a show-cause notice to the school. He said the school had been asked to submit a response within three days, failing which strict action would be taken. The accreditation of the school could also be cancelled.

Meanwhile, Mamta Bahl, Principal of Seth Hukum Chand School, Prem Nagar branch, said the school had nothing to do with this makeshift book centre. The school had asked parents to purchase books from any shop in the market, and whosoever has set up this centre, was trying to malign the school's reputation, she added.

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