Parents in Gujarat can now order Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks (GSBST) titles on Amazon and have them delivered home at the printed price, with no delivery charge. The state government is promoting the service as “Books to Students with Just One Click”, IANS reported on September 25. It covers every standard and medium the board publishes.
How it came about
The board signed a memorandum of understanding with Amazon on August 20, ANI reported at the time. Education Minister Pradyuman Vaja described it as a step toward making education easier to access, and GSBST’s Manubhai Pavra said families would no longer need to go from shop to shop or stand in queues at the start of the school year.
Before the tie-up, the board’s books reached families only through authorised distributors, who supplied booksellers in each district. That channel stays in place. Amazon becomes a second route.
Who this is for
The board handles about 1.5 crore textbooks a year, according to both reports. The state gives some of these free to students in government schools, per ANI. Students at self-financed private schools buy their own, and that group is the main audience for the online option. ANI’s report tied the 1.5 crore figure to books sold for self-financed school students.
The service also helps a second group: any family that needs a replacement copy mid-year, or an extra copy for a sibling, and finds the local shop out of stock. Working parents in cities gain the most. IANS quoted an Ahmedabad mother who said she and her husband both work and had no time to go back and forth to shops.
Things to check before you order
- Price: the book should cost exactly what is printed on its cover. A higher price or an added delivery fee means you may be looking at a third-party listing rather than the board’s own.
- Edition and medium: confirm the standard, subject and medium (Gujarati, English or another medium) against your school’s book list before paying.
- Free-textbook entitlement: if your child studies in a school where the government supplies books free, check with the school first. You do not need to buy those titles.
Open questions
Neither announcement says how fast deliveries reach smaller towns and villages, or whether every GSBST title stays in stock during the June rush when the academic year starts. Neither says what share of sales the board expects to move online, or how district booksellers, who have depended on the textbook season, will be affected.
The real test comes in May and June 2027, when lakhs of families buy books for the new session within a few weeks. If Amazon keeps prices at the printed rate and delivers on time then, parents will have a dependable second route to the bookshop counter.
Sources: ANI, IANS (via Punjab Kesari English)
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.