NCERT books to be available through e-sale

You will soon be able to order NCERT books online just like you do at Flipkart or Amazon with the government launching a portal for placing orders this month itself.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has developed a portal that will allow schools across the country to place textbook orders directly with it online to ensure they are available in time to students for next year.

The move will help parents save money, which is usually spent on sourcing books from private publishers, often on account of the non-availability of NCERT books. There have been several complaints in the past about the non-availability of the books and schools end up recommending those by private publishers.

“The portal will be launched this month itself and schools as well as individuals will be able to place orders for books online and it will be delivered to them,” said a senior HRD official.

Through this portal, schools and individuals will be able to track the status of their consignments online too as it will indicate the delivery date. Currently, NCERT prints books and they are delivered through authorised vendors across the country. Sources said approximately 42.5 million books are used by CBSE-affiliated schools.

Schools will not be required to make the payment immediately but individuals will be allowed to make the payment and books will be posted to them.

“Schools and those who place the order will also be able to track the movement of books, right from placing an order to the delivery. We are hoping that schools will give us the estimate of the number of books that are required for next year so that they are available much before time,” said a senior ministry official.

Sources said that the NCERT is also in talks with Flipkart and Amazon to host their books and deliver them too. However, a final decision is yet to be taken.

The portal will help NCERT assess the total number of books it needs to publish.

In the past, parents had complained to the ministry about schools forcing expensive books on them. Sources said the schools will be given at least a month’s time to upload their requirements.

Schools affiliated to CBSE, including private schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs), follow the NCERT curriculum.

Officials further said that so far NCERT used to do the exercise on its own rather than ask schools to provide them the information.