On witnessing heavy rush outside bookstores after lockdown relaxations, the Chandigarh administration has now decided to permit owners to deliver books at the doorsteps. The decision came a day after the UT administration removed the odd-even policy for opening of bookstores in Chandigarh.
UT administrator VP Singh Badnore had on Tuesday approved opening of stationary shops on all days in the city. However after observing heavy rush at the shops, the decision to deliver books at home was taken.
A spokesperson of the UT administration said, “The decision of delivering books at home was taken to prevent overcrowding at the stores.”
“Meanwhile, the administration has also cautioned parents to ensure precautionary measures such as sanitising books before giving them to kids while availing home delivery services,” he added.
Chandigarh Parents Association (CPA) president Nitin Goyal said it was a welcome step while mentioning that the education department had failed to clarify the confusion over the NCERT books.
Recently, there had been allegations by parents claiming that the city schools are forcing students to buy books from private publishers, which were available only with a few book sellers.
Goyal said, “The high court, Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR) and the district education officer (DEO) have passed orders making NCERT books compulsory, but the private schools continue to prescribe books of private publishers. 40 complaints are pending in the DEO office and the administration is felicitating defiance of its own orders. The parents are now in a dilemma because of the confusion created by the education department.”
{{/usCountry}}Goyal said, “The high court, Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR) and the district education officer (DEO) have passed orders making NCERT books compulsory, but the private schools continue to prescribe books of private publishers. 40 complaints are pending in the DEO office and the administration is felicitating defiance of its own orders. The parents are now in a dilemma because of the confusion created by the education department.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, education secretary Arun Kumar Gupta also approved the proposal to distribute books to around 80,000 government school students from Classes 1 to 8 from the school premises itself.
UT director of school education Rubinderjit Singh Brar said, “The distribution will start from Saturday. DEO has been authorised to carry out the distribution. The parents will be called to schools to collect the bundle of books class-wise while maintaining proper social distancing. The respective school principal and skeletal staff will carry out the work.”