A controversial decision taken by PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, directing Textbook Board to go into open tender system at the national level in the name of 'transparency' has resulted in closure of 97 percent of printing houses in the province rendering thousands of labourers jobless.
"The decision taken by KP government of open tender policy for allocation of Textbook Board printing has left the local printers and publishers in a lurch because of their inability to compete with printers of Punjab," said Iqtidar Ali Akhunzada, President Frontier Printers and Publishers Association.
After the announcement of new policy more than 80 percent of textbook business has gone to Punjab through open tender, forcing the local printers to shut down their units and lay off staff both regular and contractual, Iqtidar added.
He said there are around 90 printing houses registered with Textbooks board for printing of books and almost 97 percent have been closed down due to implication of the new policy.
Our labourers including some skilled printers, mechanics, pasters, cutters, binders etc are searching for jobs in other fields to make their both ends meet, Iqtidar added.
He disclosed that the new policy which was introduced in the name of transparency has inflicted a loss of Rs 170.75 million to provincial kitty due to high rates of printing of books in comparison to rates of previous year.
Giving a background of rules under which the KP printers were allocated printing from Textbook Board, Iqtidar said till 1980 the already developed and well-established printers of Punjab used to print a major chunk of KP textbooks.
However, in 1982-83 the then Governor General Fazl-e-Haq, the controlling authority at that time, ordered handing over of 100 percent printing to local printers. The decision was taken for the protection and growth of local printers of KP, Iqtidar explained.
Iqtidar further said that in 2001, Peshawar High Court, in a writ petition filed by printers of Punjab gave the verdict in favour of printers of KP.
He said the KP new policy is also against the verdict of PHC and soon the printers are going to file a contempt of court application.
He said a number of requests were made to Chief Minister KP and Provincial Education Minister, but no heed is being given to the plight of printers.
He said that the printing press association has also decided to set up a hunger protest camp outside Peshawar Press Club for the protection and safety of printing industry of KP.
Meanwhile, former Chairman KP Textbook Board, Qaiser Alam, who drafted this new policy, said that open tendering was adopted for making the printing allocation process transparent.
He said the new decision is in accordance to the rules of newly formed KP Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.