UP Board to hold book fairs across districts to ensure affordable textbooks

Prayagraj: To provide authorised and affordable textbooks to over 1 crore students from classes 9 to 12 in more than 29,000 schools, UP Board has directed all districts to host book awareness and accessibility camps (book fairs) by April 15.The initiative follows the successful model implemented in Agra and Saharanpur divisions. Board secretary Bhagwati Singh instructed district education officials to ensure that govt and aided inter-colleges organise these fairs, with oversight by a designated officer. Group photographs of the events must be submitted to the UP Board website and WhatsApp groups. The fairs will feature participation from authorised publishers, including Pioneer Printers (Agra), Pitambra Books (Jhansi) and Singhal Agencies (Lucknow). Students will have access to 70 NCERT textbooks and 12 selected books in Hindi, Sanskrit and Urdu, ensuring high-quality study material is easily available. This campaign addresses the issue of circulation of unauthorised textbooks that are being sold at 149% to 361% higher prices than board-approved books. Private publishers and vendors have reportedly been colluding to profit from these overpriced guidebooks, creating financial pressure on parents and students. The board has emphasised that inspections will be conducted in all schools to prevent students from being forced to buy these materials. Principals, managers or teachers who violate the rules, will face strict action. Singh further said to verify authenticity, textbooks printed this year carry a seven-digit serial number on the cover in ultraviolet fluorescent red ink, making it easy to distinguish genuine books from fakes. "Our initiative aims not only to reduce costs for families but also to promote transparency, awareness and easy access to authorised textbooks across the state," he said.