The Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research, also known as "Balbharti," has lowered the quality of papers from tensile index (strength) to opacity which eventually affects readability, according to Times of India.
In a recent tender issued by Balbharti, the brightness index, which measures the light on a sheet, has been reduced from 85 per-cent to 78 per-cent and similarly, the paper tensile index, which defines strength, has been reduced by 30 per-cent.
The opacity has been reduced by 7 percent, and the sheets will be 20 per-cent less smooth and 20–25 per-cent less durable, which reduces strength and increases the chance of tearing.
Due to the reduction in multiple parameters, the Sankalp Jeevan Charitable Trust, an NGO, filed a public interest petition in the Bombay High Court. The trust said, "Upon comparison with the quality parameters set by the textbook production corporations of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Odisha, as well as the National Open University and the NCERT, the quality of paper used in Balbharti's textbooks will be the lowest," reported TOI.
"This drastic reduction in the minimum quality standard of paper has a serious adverse impact on school children, including strain on the eyes, which can result in headaches and migraines," added the submission.
However, Balbharti said they have standardised the paper's quality this year. "Some of the parameters from last year were higher; this year we have standardised the paper's quality. Overall, we are compliant with the Bureau of Indian Standards benchmark," said Balbharti Director Anuradha Oak, as quoted by TOI.
