HYDERABAD, July 20: The Sindh Printers Publishers and Booksellers Association (SPPBA) has said that some bureaucrats and corrupt officials, by rendering the Sindh Text Book Board (STBB) totally ineffective, were trying to sabotage the government’s programme of providing free of cost books to the students of class-I to class-V.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Saturday, the chairman of the association, Nasim-us-Sehar, described these corrupt officials as ‘agents of international finance companies.

He demanded an inquiry as to why the provincial education secretary, the custodian of STBB, was trying to introduce the foreign books in the primary schools instead of the books of the Board.

He pointed out that STBB was a statutory body, which was established after the abolition of one unit and since 1973, it was publishing books of class-I to class-XII.

He said it was an independent institution and generated its funds from the royalty of the published books.

He claimed that the printing press of the Board had been closed under a planned conspiracy.

Mr Sehar pointed out that the Board had rendered yeomen services in the publication of books quantitatively and qualitatively over the last two years. Credit for this goes to the chairman and the employees, he added.

He said this had been made possible because the ‘chair’ was not corrupt.

He indicated that it was due to the efforts of the former chairman that the course books had been published in four colours, which had taken the wind out of the sails of foreign agents.

The SPPBA chief, however, regretted that the chairman was transferred at a time when the Board’s performance was at its peak.

He alleged that the education secretary wanted to destroy this institution.

He pointed out that the STBB had been given the task of publishing books under the free book distribution scheme, which was a project of Rs600 million. At such a crucial time, he added, the Board was without a chairman and the publication work was being delayed.

Mr Sehar cautioned that the ‘international looters’ were sharpening their teeth to take over the gigantic project and wondered why the STBB was not being reactivated which would provide jobs to thousands of people indirectly such as paper mill employees, local publication houses, binders and booksellers.

He demanded of the governor and the Corps Commander of Sindh to appoint a permanent chairman of the Board without any further delay.

He failed to understand why the posting of Mohammad Siddique Memon as the chairman of the Board was being delayed despite issuance of the governor’s order in this regard. He said Mr Memon was a capable and competent person for the job.

Mr Sehar demanded that the publication of course books, which had already been delayed for four months, be started with missionary zeal, the press of the Board be made functional and its retrenched employees be reinstated.

Others who were present at the press conference were Ali Akbar, Syed Wajid Ali Hasni, and Muhammad Jameel Khan, president, general secretary and treasurer of the association respectively.