Supplying textbooks: 26 printers backlisted for failure

The government yesterday blacklisted 26 printing press companies and rebuked another six for failing to deliver textbooks on time.

The 26 firms will not be allowed to bid for textbook printing jobs for different terms ranging between one and five years while the six other firms had to sign bonds to deliver the textbooks on time in future, said Professor Moshiuzzaman, acting chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB).

On January 1, the NCTB failed to distribute 60-70 lakh copies of textbooks among students due to delays by the firms, officials said.

Seventeen of the firms that delivered the books over 51 days after the deadline were blacklisted for five years.

They are Akkhar Binnyas Press and Publications, Monir Press and Publications, Sedna Printing and Publications, Abul Printing Press, Tangail Printers, Haq Printers, Nazmun Nahar Printers, Bonoful Art Press, Bulbul Art Press, Shikkha Seba Printers, Press Line Ltd, HR Printers and Paper Seller, Placid Printers, Amazon Printing Press, Ujjal Printing Press, Mohanagar Offset Printing Press, and PBS Printers.

Yousuf Printers and Sharifa Press and Publications were blacklisted for three years; Jitu Offset Printing Press, National Printers and Webtech Printers for two; and Bako Offset Press, Diganta Offset Printers, AB Colour Press, and Print Plus for one.

Firms that signed the bonds are Soma Printing Press, Rabbil Printing Press, Meraj Press and Publications, Letter N Colour Ltd, Samota Press, and Kashem and Rahman Printing Press.

Last year, NCTB blacklisted 14 contractors for delays in delivering the textbooks.

The government has been successful in delivering almost all the textbooks to students on the first day of the year since 2010, when the government started giving school textbooks for free.

The government distributed 365.84 crore free textbooks between 2010 and 2021, earning praise from home and abroad.