New Delhi [India], October 24 (ANI): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj has hit back at Delhi's Education Minister Ashish Sood over his response to allegations of commission-taking in the printing of textbooks distributed in government schools.
In a statement, Saurabh Bharadwaj stated that Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood has acknowledged that the Malhar textbooks distributed by the Delhi Government in government schools are smaller in size than standard NCERT textbooks. Bharadwaj highlighted that this size reduction will obviously cause difficulties for school children.
“Minister Ashish Sood has at least acknowledged one thing: the Malhar textbooks being distributed by the Delhi Government in government schools are smaller in size than NCERT textbooks. This will obviously cause difficulties for children.”
He alleged that Minister Sood has suppressed details of printing and paper quality specified in the tender.
“However, Ashish Sood has suppressed a very important detail, namely, the printing quality and paper quality specified in the tender. The tender clearly states that the paper used for the books must be 80 GSM. However, the books distributed by the government are made of paper measuring approximately 60 GSM, and their printing quality is also extremely poor,” said Bharadwaj.
The AAP leader also demanded laboratory tests of paper, printing and GSM quality at the laboratory, asserting that CM Rekha Gupta must bring the truth in front of the public.
“Get the paper quality, printing quality and GSM of these books tested at any laboratory. Why is Ashish Sood afraid of this? Let the Rekha Gupta government conduct these tests and bring the truth before the public,” asserted Bharadwaj.
Saurabh Bharadwaj also claimed that supply of textbooks and stationery in Delhi Government schools was significantly delayed at the beginning of the 2026–27 academic session.
“The supply of textbooks and stationery to students studying in Delhi Government schools was significantly delayed at the beginning of the 2026–27 academic session, which commenced on 1 April 2026. As a result, lakhs of children were forced to attend classes without essential study materials,” said Bharadwaj.
The AAP Delhi Chief further stated, “The tender clearly specified that if the books were not delivered within 45 days of the issuance of the work order, a penalty of 5 per cent would be imposed for every week of delay. If the delay exceeded 15 days beyond that period, the contractor could even be blacklisted. My question to Ashish Sood is this: were some officials in your department moving a file to release the contractor’s full payment despite these delays?”
Challenging Sood, he said, “Make the file from your department public. Was a file being processed by your department to release the contractor’s full payment, which the department’s Secretary had refused to approve? If a file was being processed in your department to impose a penalty on the payment due to this contractor, make that file public.”
Bharadwaj added, “The non-governmental organisation (NGO) Social Jurist filed a contempt petition in the Delhi High Court, alleging non-compliance with the court’s previous orders to ensure the timely distribution of educational materials. Justice Sachin Datta strongly reprimanded the Delhi Government over this negligence. In response, the Standing Counsel assured the court that all the remaining books would be supplied before the summer vacations.”
Issuing another challenge to Sood, Bharadwaj stated, “Tell me the time and venue for a public discussion on this issue. I want to debate this matter with you and establish the truth before the public, separating fact from fiction. I hope you will respond.” (ANI)
AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj demands lab tests for Delhi school textbooks, accuses Education Minister of quality compromise
