LAHORE, Jan 7: Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Tanveer Ahmed Sheikh has supported the genuine demands of Urdu Bazaar textbook publishers and booksellers and will take up the matter with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi.

Addressing a meeting of the textbook publishers and booksellers here on Sunday, he said the Punjab government was out to disturb the legitimate business of 500 pre-qualified firms of textbook printers, publishers and booksellers operating for the past 43 years.

He said the government was trying to concentrate the textbook printing, publishing and distribution business in a few hands on the pretext of introducing the tender system.

FPCCI zonal chairman Azhar Saeed Butt said that the Punjab government should look into publishers’ demands who had been protesting against the textbook publication and distribution policy for the last 28 days.

Urdu Bazaar Anjuman Tajran president Khalid Pervez said the government should allow a duty-free import of paper and entrust the distribution of free textbooks to publishers. He said that publishers and booksellers would continue their protest till the acceptance of their demands.