Raipur, Sep 20 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh government has suspended the GM of the state textbook corporation after piles of school books from the ongoing academic session were found to be sold as scrap and lying at a recycling centre, officials said on Friday.
After learning about the negligence, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai had instructed Additional Chief Secretary Renu Pillai to get the matter probed, a government official here said.
Preliminary investigation suggested that the textbooks were sold to a scrap dealer at a paper mill, indicating negligence on the part of Chhattisgarh Textbook Corporation General Manager (GM) Prem Prakash Sharma.
He said Sharma, a State Administrative Service officer, was suspended on Thursday.
The CM has affirmed that his government is committed to good governance and maintains zero tolerance towards corruption. Sai has asserted during recent meetings with collectors and superintendents of police that negligence at work will not be tolerated. Immediate stringent action will be taken in such cases, the official said.
Notably, former Congress MLA Vikas Upadhyay had on Tuesday alleged that the books printed through ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ and Chhattisgarh Textbook Corporation for 2024-25, for free distribution among students in government and private state board schools, were sold as scrap at throwaway prices.
Congress had claimed corruption in printing the textbooks and demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or by a retired judge. PTI COR TKP NR
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