The Jammu and Kashmir School Education Department has suspended eight officials and removed a contractual employee after two books supplied to government school libraries were found to contain content linked to separatism. The action was taken on the directions of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who also ordered a departmental inquiry into the matter.
As per a government order issued on July 4, 2026, the books were procured under the Samagra Shiksha library grant for 1,832 government schools and 394 PM SHRI schools. The books were selected through an Expression of Interest (EOI) process.
The order said four committees, comprising education experts and academicians from the Jammu and Kashmir divisions, were formed to choose books for primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary classes. These panels shortlisted 463 books submitted by 364 publishers.
However, two of the selected books were withdrawn through separate orders issued on July 3. The books are Personalities and Legends of J&K, written by Dr Hilal Ahmad and Santosh Meena and published by Oberoi Book Service, Jammu, and Great Personalities of Jammu and Kashmir, written by Dr Sushant Giri and published by Aurora Prakashan, Delhi.
As per the order, 123 copies of the first book had already been sent to schools in Jammu, Ramban and Udhampur districts. Another 128 copies of the second book were supplied to schools in Jammu and Baramulla districts.
The order said, "It has come to the notice of the department that these books have highly inappropriate content, it is quite evident that there was serious negligence, dereliction of duty and lack of proper due diligence was carried out by the members of the Sub Committee Series 4 and Supervisory Officers while recommending such books which contained content related to separatism which has potential for creating law and order situations."
It further said the members of the Series-4 sub-committee appeared to be responsible for the serious lapses and had failed to perform their duties with due care.
The suspended officials are Fazil Imran Saddiqui, Coordinator Library, Samagra Shiksha; Gurjeet Singh, Assistant Coordinator, Samagra Shiksha; Sanjeev Sharma, Principal, Government Higher Secondary School, Kote Pannu, Kathua; Shazia Kousar, Academic Officer, SCERT Jammu; Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir, Lecturer, BHSS Wathoora, Budgam; Niranjan Sharma, Lecturer, Government Higher Secondary School Badhat, Kishtwar; Renu Mengi, Lecturer, DIET Jammu; and Rajmohini, Lecturer, Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Poonch.
The order said all eight officials will remain attached to the School Education Department during the suspension period.
It also directed the immediate disengagement of Sheikh Suheil Ahmad, a contractual Computer Assistant working with the Coordinator Library under Samagra Shiksha.
The government has appointed Ashwani Kumar, IAS, Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary), Power Development Department, as the inquiry officer. Rohit Sharma, JKAS, Additional Secretary in the General Administration Department, has been named the presenting officer. The inquiry report has to be submitted to the competent authority within 30 days.
The order also banned and blacklisted the two authors and their publishers in Jammu and Kashmir. It directed that all books and other printed material written or published by them be withdrawn from the Union Territory.
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