According to media reports, the contract worth Rs3bn was awarded to the publishers in violation of the procurement rules with the alleged approval of Education Minister Murad Raas.
The reports claimed that about 0.3million copies of 264 books will be provided to at least 40 schools in 36 districts. The publishing houses that were awarded the printing project included Al-Faisal Publishers with 96 books, Al-Nafees Publishers with 67, Ilm-o-Irfan Publishers with 61 books, and the BookHouse tasked with the printing of 41 books.
The reports further claimed that instead of asking for lists from the publishers, the department also chose these books on its own. According to City42, the books, that include Diwan-e-Ghalib as well, chosen for the '8th and 10th grades students are supposed to be taught at PhD level'.
In 10 districts of the province, the school and education department reportedly started the purchase of these books without any advertisement in the newspapers, a grave violation of the procurement rules. In Lahore, the education department will provide 16,120 books to 40 schools, for which an amount of Rs50m has been sanctioned for the purchase.
It may be noted here that the Schools Program Monitoring and Implementation Unit is in-charge of the purchase of the books and has been given Rs3bn in aid by the UK government.