Uttarakhand – Despite government announcements and cabinet approval, around ten lakh students across Uttarakhand will not receive free notebooks this academic year, leaving children and parents disappointed. The scheme, meant to benefit students from Class 1 to 12 in government and aided schools, remained stuck in paperwork while the academic session moved ahead.
The proposal for providing free notebooks was approved by the cabinet in April 2025. After free textbooks and uniforms, the education department had promised that notebooks would also be distributed at no cost. However, even as the year progressed, students continued their studies without receiving the promised material.
Ironically, the tender process for notebooks has begun only now. According to official instructions issued by Secondary Education Director Dr Mukul Kumar Sati, free notebooks are to be arranged for the 2025–26 academic session. For this purpose, an online e-tender was invited on December 4, 2025.
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The delay has raised questions on planning and implementation. While policies are announced in the name of student welfare, ground-level execution appears slow, directly affecting lakhs of children who were expected to benefit during the current session.
