But the precautions taken by the Government have come at a price. Though the academic session began on July 1, about a crore books have not been distributed yet. Students of classes VI and VII at a T T Nagar school in Bhopal got their Science and English books only on Tuesday. There are lakhs of other students still waiting for some book or the other.

“Though the number is printed only on the cover page, it’s still adding to the delay. These are teething troubles arising from a new arrangement,” MPTBC managing director G K Srivastava told The Indian Express. He admitted that the distribution was also delayed due to other reasons like re-tendering of the printing paper and the delay in delivery. A paper mill in Nagpur saw a heavy fire and could not honour its commitment, he claimed.

The stringent measures were suggested in the wake of recovery of books from scrap godowns in Betul district, a scam highlighted by this paper. Thousands of books were sold to scrap dealers for as little as Rs 2 a kg.