Kolkata, June 24 (IANS) A circular from the West Bengal School Education Department, directing all state-run schools to keep 19 books penned by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has created a major controversy.

In the circular, the Commissioner of School Education directed all District Inspectors (DIs) of schools to ensure that 515 books, including 19 penned by CM Banerjee, are kept in the libraries.

BJP’s Information Technology Cell chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, ridiculed the state government over the development and claimed that in the Trinamool Congress regime, even school children were not spared from the “scam”.

“Another Day, Another TMC Scam! In Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal, even schoolchildren are not spared from corruption. In a bizarre and shameful move, government schools in West Bengal are being forced to buy 19 books written by Mamata Banerjee to be eligible for a Rs 1 lakh grant. Yes, you read that right – public money, meant to improve infrastructure and education, is now being used to market the Chief Minister’s vanity projects,” said Malviya in a statement, which he posted on the wall of his official X handle on Tuesday morning.

Claiming that no student deserves to be “punished with Mamata Banerjee’s incoherent literary output”, Malviya said that this move by the state School Education Department was a misuse of taxpayers’ money to fill up the coffers of the Trinamool Congress through “fake” book sales and “backdoor royalties”.

“Another ploy to convert black money into white ahead of elections? After destroying the future of Bengal’s youth through violence, unemployment, and political interference in education, Mamata Banerjee is now monetising school libraries for personal and political gain. We will not stay silent. We will not let TMC loot education. We will not let Bengal’s future be sold for propaganda,” Malviya’s statement read.

Even the different academic associations in West Bengal have criticised the move.

According to the general secretary of Sikshak Sikshakarmi Sikshanuragi Aikya Mancha (Unity Forum of Teachers, Non-teaching staff and Learners), Kinkar Adhikari, the state School Education Department should immediately withdraw the direction given to the state-run schools in the matter.

He claimed that this move was somewhat similar to the British rule in the country when the British Empire had set certain conditions for the then vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta, Asutosh Mukhopadhyay, for a financial grant for the university.

“Asutosh Mukhopadhyay rejected the offer. Unfortunately, we have witnessed a similar approach on the part of the Trinamool government in independent India,” Adhikari added.

All in the Trinamool Congress had maintained total silence on the matter.

–IANS

src/svn