Guwahati: Education minister Ranoj Pegu on Thursday flagged off seven trucks carrying 1.61 lakh textbooks from the Assam State Textbook Production and Publication Corporation Ltd (ASTPPC) warehouse at Bonda in Guwahati for flood-affected students of Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat districts.More than 1.5 lakh students live across the three districts, of whom around 1.12 lakh have been affected by the floods, Pegu said while launching the free textbook distribution drive. An estimated nine lakh textbooks will be required for the students.“In the first phase, 15% of the required textbooks (1.61 lakh) have been dispatched by truck. The remaining textbooks will be sent in phases. The district administrations have been requested to receive the textbooks, store them in safe locations, and, as soon as the situation returns to normal, distribute them to the students in an organized manner under their supervision,” Pegu said.The minister said some textbooks will required to be reprinted and orders had been placed already.“The books will be printed on a war footing and supplied to students as quickly as possible. This arrangement applies to all textbooks from Class Ka to Class XII,” Pegu added.Acting on CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s directions, the ASTPPC expedited the printing process to facilitate timely distribution, the education minister said.
