PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
In a written reply to a question asked by the Haridwar MP and former chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat in the Lok Sabha regarding NCERT pirated textbooks, the Union Minister of State for Education, Jayant Chaudhary shared details of the strict action taken against pirated NCERT textbooks.
He informed that more than 4.71 lakh pirated NCERT textbooks had been seized in special campaigns conducted in various states since 2024. In the last one year, raids had been conducted on 29 premises of publishers and sellers of pirated books while stock and machinery worth over Rs 20 crore had been seized, the Union Minister further informed.
At the same time, there was a 20 per cent reduction in the price of textbooks, improvement in the quality of paper and printing and promotion of online sales through e-commerce platforms. Furthermore, pilot testing of technology-based anti-piracy solution developed by IIT Kanpur has been applied to 10 lakh books of class VI.
He said that the result of these strict and visionary steps was that the sale of NCERT textbooks has increased from Rs 232 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 526 crore in 2024-25, which is a proof of the success of this campaign.
Appreciating the strict action taken by the Central Government and the Ministry of Education against pirated NCERT textbooks, Rawat said that reduction in the textbook prices would not only curb piracy but prove a milestone in providing affordable and quality education materials to the students.
