KARACHI: Progress of probe into STB scam slow - Hamida
KARACHI, Nov 25: The matter of alleged corruption in the procurement of paper by the Sindh Textbook Board (STB) has been referred to the anti-corruption department whereas the STB chairman has been removed.
This was stated by the education minister Dr Hamida Khuhro during question hour in the Sindh Assembly on Thursday. She said she was not holding her present office when the deal in question had been made.
She told the house that the paper was imported at a higher rate to ensure better printing quality. It has now been decided to procure local paper for the purpose, she added.
The minister said that tenders had been invited in June last year for the purchase of local/imported paper for textbooks. M/s Flying Board Paper Products, Lahore, and M/s Iqra Enterprises, Karachi, had offered the rates of Rs42,885 and Rs65,000 per tonne, respectively, she said, adding that the former reduced the rate to Rs42,750 and the latter to Rs61,500 later.
She said the expensive imported paper increased the cost of books to some extent. She stated that the imported paper was used on the advice of donor agencies who wanted better quality textbooks.
Replying to a supplementary question, Dr Khuhro said that the inquiry into the deal was still pending with the S&GAD department. "The process is continuing but the wheels of bureaucracy move very slowly,'' she remarked.
She told a questioner that the textbooks meant for free distribution among students of primary classes free of cost had been sold in the market. She said she had come to know about one such incident where a Suzuki-load of the textbooks was seized in Karachi and action was taken against the culprits.
When asked whether delay in the supply of already published STB textbooks would make millions of students to suffer, the minister admitted, "to the extent that non-availability of books in the first four months made students to suffer. However, she said, the department managed to compensate by opening all schools on July 9 and 10, 2004 during summer vacations to distribute the books. She said all the students of class I to V had now been provided with free textbooks.
The minister's answer was in an emphatic 'no' when Nasrullah Baloch inquired whether the paper consignment valued at Rs180 million had been lying at the port since February 2000.
Replying to Mohammed Hassan Khan Talpur's question, she said that there were no ghost schools in Badin. However, she added, 317 boys/girls primary/middle schools were lying closed for quite some time owing to the non-availability of teachers.
No recruitment had been made over the last few years, she maintained, and added that the schools would become functional after recruitment of teachers. Out of these 317 schools, 76 primary and three middle schools are located in Taluka Badin, 50 primary and three middle schools in Taluka Golarchi/Fazil Rahu, 47 primary and one middle school in Taluka Matli, 68 primary and one middle school in Taluka Talhar, and 64 primary, three middle and one elementary schools in Taluka Tando Bago.
