Three different cases were registered against the owners of at least three popular bookstores in Dehradun for allegedly engaging in illegal activities, including overpricing, GST evasion, selling books from fake publications with forged international standard book numbers (ISBNs), and not providing proper bills to customers, police said on Sunday.
Acting on multiple complaints from parents of schoolchildren, surprise inspections were ordered by district magistrate (DM) Savin Bansal. Teams comprising officials from the district administration, education department, and state GST department conducted raids at Asian Book Depot near SBI main branch, Brothers Pustak Bhandar on Subhash Road, and National Book Depot at Dispensary Road.
DM Bansal said that the administration had been receiving complaints regarding collusion between several bookstores and private school managements, allegedly engaging in unlawful practices.
“During the inspections, it was found that the bookstores were not only selling books from unverified publication houses, but many of the books sold lacked ISBNs. Even books that displayed ISBNs could not be verified online, which proved that they were forged. The stores also failed to issue proper bills and compelled parents to purchase additional unnecessary items. The teams have seized books and other related items,” said Bansal.
After finding these irregularities, three separate cases were registered at Kotwali police station against the owners of the aforementioned bookstores under relevant sections of BNS, the DM said.
Parents of schoolchildren, who have long raised concerns over inflated prices of school textbooks and stationery, have welcomed the crackdown. Lave Chaudhary, president of Abhivakta Ekta Samiti, a parents’ association in Dehradun, said, “The high prices have been a financial burden for parents for years. It is suspected that schools receive commissions of 30-40% on a single book. Imagine thousands of students and lakhs of books in circulation, which result in substantial earnings for schools at the expense of parents.”
He added, “This action shows that the administration has finally taken cognisance of our concerns. However, action still needs to be taken against schools that are driving these prices through the roof. Unless regulations are formed to regularly monitor private institutions, hikes and increased costs will persist.” Parents have also called for sustained monitoring rather than one-time interventions.
Source #TOI
