Lucknow: In a shocking incident of negligence and indifference, a huge pile of school textbooks were sold off in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district.
Over 13,500 textbooks, meant to be distributed for free in council schools for the 2026-2027 academic session, were found to have been sold as scrap to a junk dealer.
The books were printed under Samagra Shiksha scheme to ensure inclusive, equitable and quality education for students from primary classes to class XII.
It was during a stock verification exercise, under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan — a component of Samagra Shiksha – that officials discovered 13,595 books were missing, reported NDTV. The books were later traced to a scrap dealer.
The tip-off came on February 17 when Bahraich District Magistrate Akshay Tripathi came to know that a local scrap dealer had purchased the missing textbooks and was transporting them in a truck.
A police team was immediately dispatched, and the truck was intercepted in Lakhimpur and brought back.
“More than 10 tonnes of textbooks meant for the 2026-27 academic session were recovered. Documents found in the truck suggest the books had been sold by the scrap dealer to a firm in Kashipur, Uttarakhand,” Tripathi told PTI.
An FIR was registered at Ramgaon police station against Bahraich scrap dealer Dilshad Ahmad, truck owner Mohammad Aslam from Moradabad, and others under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, the district magistrate said.
A video shared on social media shows bundles of books, including a class IV textbook printed under Samagra Shiksha scheme along with NCERT.
The district magistrate said action has already been taken even as a detailed inquiry is ongoing.
“Departmental attendants Shafiq Ahmad and Alok Kumar have been suspended. Contractual district coordinator (community participation) Ashutosh Singh and instructor Atul Kumar Singh have been terminated. A detailed inquiry is underway,” Tripathi said.
The truck which was being used to transport the books has been seized after the driver abandoned the vehicle and fled the spot.
