Around 60 persons in and around Vijayawada, engaged in the business of printing and supplying textbooks and workbooks to the Andhra Pradesh government for the last 25 years, are living in uncertainty over their future, as the government recently issued a notice inviting tenders from across the country for procuring paper and supply of books.
Usually, Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL) supplies paper to the Andhra Pradesh government, which, in turn, supplies the same to printers in the State. The printers, around 60 in number, all having small-scale units with not more than three printing machines, then print the books that are then sent to the government schools in the State.
With the Department of Andhra Pradesh Government Text Book Press (APGTBP) floating tenders on February 2 for supply and procurement of paper, the small-scale printers fear loss of livelihoods.
“Every year, 18,000 tonnes of paper is required to print 400 varieties of textbooks for the students of Class I to X. They are supplied to government schools across the State. Around 60 printers in the State, most of them in Vijayawada, print 5 lakh to 6 lakh books individually. With nearly 140 machines, it takes us more than two months for printing. Procuring paper on our own is next to impossible for us, given the small turnovers we have. We need to spend ₹180 crore to procure the required quantity of paper,” says a member of the Andhra Pradesh Web Offset Printers’ Association on the condition of anonymity.
Also, a clause in the ‘Eligibility’ section of the tender says that those who have had an annual turnover of ₹10 crore in any of the last five years are eligible to apply. “The maximum turnover we see in a year is not more than ₹1 crore. This leaves out all of us,” the member says.
At his unit, around 70 staffers, including those engaged in printing and binding, work. “Around 60 MSMEs will have to be shut down, more than 2 lakh indirect and 50,000 direct employees will be affected if the government stops supplying paper to us. We have been involved in this work for the last 25 years. We do not have any other source of income,” the member says.
Another printer says that they get an income of ₹45 lakh per machine and the expenditures come to ₹35 lakh. They have to depend on the remaining amount for the rest of the year as they get work only once before the beginning of the academic year. “The government has not yet cleared the last year’s bills, amounting to ₹56 crore. We are waiting,” he says.
TNPL dues to be cleared
Besides, the Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL) also wrote its objection pertaining to the tender. In a document available in the public domain, it said the State government owes the TNPL nearly ₹200 crore. “Against the previous year’s supply of 16,514 tonnes of paper and 1,326 tonnes of board, the APGTBP needs to pay us ₹199.68 crore. We have not received payment for a single bill,” it says, adding that the TNPL was informed that the reason for the delay was “lack of funds”. It demanded that the tender should not be floated until all the bills are cleared.
The members of Andhra Pradesh Web Offset Printers’ Association allege the government had invited “with paper” tender in a bid to circumvent payment of dues to the TNPL.
When contacted the officials in the A.P. Textbook Press said the Tamil Nadu government owed some amount to the State regarding the water sharing. “We had asked them to see if the amount can be adjusted. Discussions are on. Our main priority is supplying textbooks on time to the next batch of students for the 2024-25 academic year,” the official said.
Asked about the small-scale units in the State, the official said they could also take part in the tendering process. “We have 25% reservation for the local printers. Some of them are big enough to procure paper on their own,” the official said, adding that all the bills due to the printers would be cleared soon.
