Printers wait for govt to clear Rs 250cr bill for two sets of books

SIVAKASI: Sivakasi printers, caught in the uniform school syllabus row, are a worried lot as there is uncertainty over whether the government would settle their dues of Rs 250 crore. Thegovernment owes about Rs 50 crore to 35 printers, who are members of the TamilNadu Textbook Printers’ Association, for printing textbooks under thecommon syllabus system. Those orders were placed by the erstwhile DMK governmentand the final settlement is pending. The DMK government had already paid Rs 150crore to the printers before demitting office, said one of the printers.The present AIADMK government, after scrapping the common syllabussystem, placed fresh orders for printing textbooks under the old syllabus. Onceagain, the total bill ran to Rs 200 crore. The government wanted printers toadhere to stringent conditions like providing bank guarantee, insurance andsecurity deposit for bagging the order. Despite the printers fulfilling these,the government has not released payment on time, said another printer. In thetextbook printers’ association, there are only three major printers, theremaining are medium and small players. The leading players also give subcontracts to small printers, said a member.Of the nine crore booksthat were ordered by the new government, only two crore books have beencompleted and released to the government. The remaining seven crore books havebeen printed, but are in the finishing stages of binding. The initial lot ofbooks was dispatched to godowns at Kappalur and Kochadai, near Madurai.“But even for the books that we have released, we have got only 20% of thepayment. There is no word from the government as to when the remaining 80% willcome,” said an association office bearer. “Now, with thecourt ordering the state government to implement the common syllabus, we areworried whether the government will pay us our dues for the old syllabus books.We are not able to even escalate the matter to the court, because if we do so,the government will not give future orders to us,” said a printer.The common syllabus books, which were distributed earlier to variousschools, have been kept under lock and key.