Balbharati textbooks yet to reach market, schools to start in a day

The new textbooks with the Maharashtra State Board curriculum is only meant for students studying in government schools. Balbharati has completed its distribution of the new integrated textbooks.

Students studying in unaided and self-financed schools across Maharashtra will have to rely on the traditional set of textbooks, which are currently not available in the market as per demand.

“Parents have been asking for the old textbooks for almost a week now. Mostly books of the primary classes are not available. In higher classes, even though textbooks are available, the sets are incomplete,” said a shopkeeper. He explained, “Generally, parents buy a complete set. But sometimes, individual textbooks are sold as per need. Generally, incomplete sets are taken back by Balbharati and new sets are sent. But this year, the practice has changed.”

Balbharati asked shopkeepers to submit a demand sheet, based on the number of missing textbooks from the complete sets. “Until the set is complete, nobody is going to buy the set of textbooks at the beginning of the academic year,” said another shopkeeper.

Even as the new integrated textbooks are not meant for the unaided school-students, some shopkeepers have received posters and stickers apprising parents about the new set of integrated textbooks.

When contacted, Balbharati confirmed that this year, they have asked shopkeepers to submit information of missing textbooks. “We will be replacing those on priority,” said director of Balbharati Krishna Kumar Patil.

“The work is complete and textbooks should now be in transit. In a couple of days, the textbooks should reach the market,” said Patil. About the newly launched integrated textbooks, Patil said, “Even as those are for government-run schools, we are encouraging others to consider the integrated textbooks for the convenience of students. Hence, even the new textbooks will be available in the market.”