Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The textbook printing policy of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-led provincial government has brought the printing and publishing industry on the verge of closure as future of more than 40,000 skilled workers related to the industry is at stake in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

President of the Frontier Printers and Publishers Association Zafar Khattak told Daily Times that after the government introduced open tender policy in the province, majority of the printing business units along with their skilled workers shifted to Punjab.

He said that printing was one of the major industries and a source of livelihood for about 40,000 skilled workers across the province.

“Around 80 per cent of the textbook printing business in the province has shifted to Punjab, forcing local printing units to either close down or cut the staff,” he added.

Back in 1982-83, Punjab’s well-established printers printed a major chunk of KP’s textbooks. But when the then Governor, Fazl-e-Haq, held his office, he ordered the handing over of 100 per cent printing to local printers.

“Contrary to the claims of the PTI-led government in KP that it was working on a plan to rejuvenate the sick industrial units across the province, it introduced anti-printing press policy only to render thousands of skilled and unskilled manpower jobless,” said a printing press owner, who wished not to be named.

He added that political tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan was another major blow to the industry.

“Customers from Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Iran used to visit the Mohalla Jhangi in Peshawar, and printers in Swat, Mardan and other districts for publishing books and other materials,” he said, adding: “Most of our customers from those countries diverted to India where identical markets work with full government support and special visa policy for businesspersons,” he said.

Other businessmen including Sher Rehman, Asad Ali and Zulfiqar Khan also lamented that the KP government had failed to bring investors to the province.

“The past three years indicate that the PTI-led government has no intensions to rehabilitate the local businesses and industries,” said one of them.

Another source on the condition of anonymity blamed the PTI lawmaker from tehsil Takhtbhai, Iftikhar Ali Mashwani, who had installed printing units in Punjab and printed books for the government schools in KP.

The MPA, however, declined to comment after he was reached on phone by this correspondent for his version.

“Apparently, the open tender policy for printing textbooks introduced by the PTI is aimed at benefiting its own lawmaker’s business,” the source claimed.

Another official at the Printing and Stationary Department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who also pleaded anonymity, termed the open tender policy of the PTI government a violation of the rules.

He explained that it was purely the domain of the designated and authorised department to deal with the printing and publishing of the textbook for government schools.

“None of the government departments in the province are allowed to print its material and books under the open tender policy in private capacity,” the official explained.

According to the Government Printing and Stationary Manual’s first edition 1960, clause 9.2, the open tender policy is a clear violation of the rules.

“Sale price of all publications is fixed by the press of the concerned department on the basis of the approved cost,” the rule reads.

The official argued that under the rules, it was the domain of the concerned department to fix the price for printing and publishing materials and books for government schools and the departments.

The official claimed that the KP government had outsourced the printing work but had also recently spent Rs430 million on the purchase of three new machines, i.e. two for printing and one for folding.

He argued that there was no need for purchasing such expensive machines if the department was not allowed to print the books.