Printers seek PM intervention as cronies grab work orders

Bangladesh Mudran Shilpa Samity (BMSS) has sought prime minister's intervention to ensure supply of quality text books to primary and secondary school students.
The state-run National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) is responsible for overseeing the print of text books.
Last month, the association sent a letter to the PM, saying that the pro-people decision of the prime minister to distribute free text books to the students from class one to 10 was not being implemented for what it said "unethical practices" of a few officials involved in the programme and a section of profit monger book suppliers.
They alleged that a section of officials at the NCTB give work orders to the printers who have good relation with them violating all the rules and procedures.
These officials even do not bother about ensuring supply of quality books by those printers as per the tender, which results in printing of low quality text books.
The association alleged the officials responsible for ensuring quality take illegal financial benefit openly and certify books with low quality printing, binding and paper of those suppliers.
Without naming anyone, the association also alleged that the printing orders of text books went to a coterie of four to five companies that take the advantage of faulty tendering process and irregularities in work distribution.
Besides, it said the international tendering system creates opportunity for the Indian printers to get work orders and directly distribute books at the thana level after printing books in different Indian states and entering those through Benapole port.
The association proposed that the PM form a quality control committee comprising officials from education board and ministry, representatives of BMSS, experts from the security printing corporation and Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR); amend the tender and fix the number of maximum lots for participating in the tender process so that the printing works are not centered to any individual or a single company and call only local tenders from 2016 for printing the textbooks as the local printing industry is capable enough to do the job.
The association has copied the letter to the education minister. In his note, education minister Nurul Islam Nahid instructed the secretary to take necessary steps to ensure paper quality by discussing with the NCTB.
The education secretary in his note to the NCTB chairman instructed to do everything to ensure quality of paper.