NEW DELHI | The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj has hit back at Education Minister Ashish Sood over his response to allegations of commission-taking in the printing of textbooks distributed in government schools. He shared that the minister had acknowledged that the books were smaller than National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks, and demanded that the minister make public the file proposing penalties against the vendor for delays in supplying the books.
Challenging Ashish Sood to a public debate, the AAP Delhi Chief called on him to disclose the relevant records and establish the facts before the public.
In a video statement, senior AAP leader and Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “Minister Ashish Sood has at least acknowledged one thing: the Malhar textbooks being distributed by the Delhi Government in government schools are smaller in size than NCERT textbooks. This will obviously cause difficulties for children.”
He pointed out, “However, Ashish Sood has suppressed a very important detail, namely, the printing quality and paper quality specified in the tender. The tender clearly states that the paper used for the books must be 80 GSM. However, the books distributed by the government are made of paper measuring approximately 60 GSM, and their printing quality is also extremely poor.”
“Get the paper quality, printing quality and GSM of these books tested at any laboratory. Why is Ashish Sood afraid of this? Let the Rekha Gupta government conduct these tests and bring the truth before the public,” he asserted.
Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “The supply of textbooks and stationery to students studying in Delhi Government schools was significantly delayed at the beginning of the 2026–27 academic session, which commenced on 1 April 2026. As a result, lakhs of children were forced to attend classes without essential study materials.”
The AAP Delhi Chief further stated, “The tender clearly specified that if the books were not delivered within 45 days of the issuance of the work order, a penalty of 5 per cent would be imposed for every week of delay. If the delay exceeded 15 days beyond that period, the contractor could even be blacklisted. My question to Ashish Sood is this: were some officials in your department moving a file to release the contractor’s full payment despite these delays?”
Challenging Ashish Sood, he said, “Make the file from your department public. Was a file being processed by your department to release the contractor’s full payment, which the department’s Secretary had refused to approve? If a file was being processed in your department to impose a penalty on the payment due to this contractor, make that file public.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj added, “The non-governmental organisation (NGO) Social Jurist filed a contempt petition in the Delhi High Court, alleging non-compliance with the court’s previous orders to ensure the timely distribution of educational materials. Justice Sachin Datta strongly reprimanded the Delhi Government over this negligence. In response, the Standing Counsel assured the court that all the remaining books would be supplied before the summer vacations.”
Issuing a further challenge to Ashish Sood, Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “Tell me the time and venue for a public discussion on this issue. I want to debate this matter with you and establish the truth before the public, separating fact from fiction. I hope you will respond.”
