Sleaze in School Magazine: Govt blacklists publishing firm
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- Current News
- Saturday, 16 June 2012 00:36
- Published on Saturday, 16 June 2012 14:36
- Hits: 545
Gujarat Global News Network, Ahmedabad
Waking up from its slumber, the state government has sprung into action in the controversy involving sleazy jokes in a monthly magazine ‘Magic Puzzle’ circulated in state-run schools under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan by the government.
The Gujarat government has cancelled the contract awarded to the publisher Amisha Printers and blacklisted the firm. Also the government has forfeited the deposit and withdrew the children’s’ magazine from schools.
Interestingly Amisha Printers, is a sister concern of Navbharat Sahitya Mandir, a publication house known to be a favourite among state babus. It has published several books by senior officers in the Gujarat government. The list of babus who have availed the services of Navbharat Sahitya Mandir includes the likes Harsh Brahmbhatt, Vipul Mittra, Bhagyesh Jha and Kirit Shelat.
Amisha Printers had got the contract from District Primary Education Programme, which is funded by the Union ministry of human resources development, in March. The firm had sub-contracted the job of printing the controversial magazine ‘Magic Puzzle’ to Golibar Publications, one of the many local publishers who used to eat out of Shah’s hands.
“We have cancelled the contract approval with immediate effect,” said Manoj Agrawal, director of DPEP. He said the publisher was earlier given notice for not getting the content cleared by his department before sending it to schools. “We don’t think the students have read these jokes since schools reopened only three days ago,” he said.
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