SHILLONG: Amid the row over the selection of textbooks, local book publishers who have engaged several experts to write textbooks, expressed concern over book publishing houses from outside the state doubting the credibility and integrity of the publishing houses in Meghalaya.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the selected local publishers said that barring vernacular textbooks, only less than 10 per cent of the total books have been selected from Meghalaya by the expert review teams appointed confidentially by MBoSE.
“Ninety per cent of the books that have been chosen are published by the competent publishing houses from outside Meghalaya. Most of the publishing houses of Shillong whose books have been selected have been running their business for last 40 years and above”, the statement said.
It was also informed that the selected English textbooks for Class 1 to 4 published by Students Publication, Shillong, has been authored by a writer of international repute, Dr. Sarita Dasgupta, who has her own competent editorial team. She had authored several creative literary works that are taught in many schools.
“The mathematics books, which have been published by Meghalaya Book Stall for Class 1 to 4 have been painstakingly written by an eminent mathematician, Dr. Pankaja Das, who is an associate professor of Mathematics at Assam Engineering College, one of the best engineering colleges of India. Dr. Pankaja Das has about 28 years of experience in the field of the mathematics,” the statement said.
All these books were meticulously edited by proficient scholars to make the titles completely impeccable and error free, it said.
Besides the two local publishers whose books were selected, the textbooks of many other local publishers were included in the MBoSE syllabus.
They are Ri Khasi publishers, Hima Book Stall, Gewali Publishers, Book Land, Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Assembly, Don Bosco Publisher, Shillong and Tura Book Room and Unimind Enterprisers Tura among others.
The local publishers want the support and cooperation of the Meghalaya government, which according to them will boost their morale to work towards making the state self-reliant besides encouraging other new publishers from the state.
