Kamal Ghorui
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Friday said it has stepped up printing of the newly introduced Class 9 textbooks on a “war footing” to address a temporary mismatch between demand and supply following the rollout of the NEP 2020-aligned curriculum.In an official statement, the NCERT said it has released a fresh set of Grade 9 textbooks based on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The digital versions of these books were made available free of cost on its official website nearly two weeks ago.The council acknowledged that the rollout of the new curriculum has led to a sharp rise in demand. “These books are being printed on a war-footing manner and distributed across the country. Due to the very large number of textbooks required, there is a temporary gap in supply and demand,” the statement said.It added, “NCERT is closely monitoring the situation and working to bridge this gap. The supply of textbooks is being normalised.” To ensure students and schools can access books without disruption, NCERT said it is using multiple distribution channels. These include a nationwide vendor network, sales counters at its regional centres, and its headquarters in New Delhi, which is also keeping counters open on weekends.The textbooks are also available through online platforms, including NCERT’s official portal, DIKSHA, and ePathshala. In addition, they are listed on select e-commerce platforms, while free downloadable versions remain accessible online.NCERT further said it is directly supplying textbooks to schools and institutions placing bulk orders, especially to speed up distribution during the transition phase.The council noted that while temporary supply issues are expected during large-scale curriculum reforms, systems have been put in place to resolve them quickly. It also confirmed that all Class 9 textbooks have been published, except the Social Science book, which is in the final stage of preparation and will be released soon.
