The Gujarat Congress on Wednesday alleged significant delays in the distribution of free textbooks to students studying in government schools across the state, raising concerns over the impact on academic activities.
Addressing a press conference at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee Media Coordinator and spokesperson Hemang Rawal questioned the state government’s preparedness despite its emphasis on educational reforms.
“The government is promoting the State Curriculum Framework and highlighting the implementation of the new education policy. However, when lakhs of students still do not have access to textbooks, the relevance of such reforms comes into question,” Rawal said.
He pointed out that the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) was announced in 2023, providing the state government ample time to prepare revised curricula, textbooks and supporting systems. Despite this, he alleged that many students, especially those in Classes 9 and 11, had not received their free textbooks even more than 10 days after schools reopened on June 6.
Citing textbook distribution data available up to June 16, 2026, Rawal claimed that textbooks had been dispatched on only 15 out of 208 distribution routes across the state, while supplies were yet to reach the remaining 193 routes. He further alleged that more than 400 distribution centres in Gujarat had not received textbooks.
According to the Congress leader, the shortage is affecting classroom teaching and making it difficult for teachers to complete the syllabus within the academic schedule.
Rawal also claimed that, based on information from sources within the Gujarat State School Textbook Board, printing of some free textbooks had not yet been completed.
The Congress demanded that the Gujarat government, the Education Department and the Gujarat State School Textbook Board explain the reasons behind the delay, clarify why distribution has been completed on only a limited number of routes, and disclose the status of textbook printing.
“We urge the state government to intervene immediately, expedite the distribution of all pending textbooks on a war footing, conduct a transparent inquiry into the matter and fix accountability for the lapse that has adversely affected students,” Rawal said.