Baby Chakraborty, KalimNews, Kolkata, December 26, 2024 – In a bid to ease the financial burden on students and their families, the West Bengal government has unveiled a new initiative called the ‘Shiksha Sathi’ project. Announced on Christmas, this project aims to provide affordable notebooks to students amid rising prices of study materials across the state.
The ‘Shiksha Sathi’ initiative will offer notebooks at prices considerably lower than the market rate. With the increasing cost of essential educational supplies such as books and notebooks, this move is expected to provide significant relief to both students and their parents. The notebooks will be produced by the state’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department, in collaboration with Shilpabarta Printing Press Limited, which has previously handled various state government printing projects. However, the press will be modernized to meet the demand for new and high-quality notebooks.
Under the new project, three types of notebooks will be available. Two of them will be 100-page notebooks, priced at just ₹70 each, while a special 100-page notebook will be sold for only ₹37. Despite the lower price, the government has assured that the quality of these notebooks will be on par with premium market options. The notebooks will also feature information about various government social welfare schemes and their benefits, offering students a useful guide alongside their study material.
Currently, these government-subsidized notebooks will be available for purchase at Manjusha stalls, Consumer Cooperative Forums, and government fairs. In the near future, the notebooks will also be made available at ration shops across the state, making them accessible to a larger number of students.
The initiative has been met with widespread appreciation from both students and parents, who see this as a welcome move to reduce the financial strain on households, especially in light of the rising costs of education-related materials.
Education Minister Cha, while announcing the project, highlighted the government’s ongoing commitment to supporting the education sector and ensuring that quality resources are accessible to students from all backgrounds.