Sale of ‘pirated’ NCERT books goes unchecked in Faridkot

Faridkot, May 2

“Pirated” copies of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks of Classes IX, X and XII are allegedly being sold in the market.

While no shopkeeper is allowed to sell any NCERT textbook beyond the actual price printed but the re-stitched or rebound ‘pirated’ copies are being sold at Rs 30 to Rs 50 above the MRP.

While there are complaints by many students to the NCERT about the sale of the ‘pirated’ books, the School Education Department authorities are oblivious to this illegal practice.

Recently, a 16-year-old Class X student had approached the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Faridkot, after he bought a pirated textbook, which was full of errors.

In its reply, the NCERT authorities claimed there was no scope of any error, mistake or misprinting in the books provided by them. They claimed the book sold to the student was a pirated copy.

“We need to check any eight consecutive pages of a book and we will find watermark on at least two of the pages. If there is no watermark, it means the book is pirated,” said the NCERT authorities.

Meanwhile, the consumer forum imposed Rs 5,000 fine on the bookseller for selling pirated textbooks in this case.

Shiv Raj Kapoor, DEO, Faridkot, said, “A five-member team was formed only to ensure there was no overcharging by booksellers. However, we don’t know about the piracy of the NCERT books. But we’ll ask the team to check the authenticity of the books.”