Delhi government schools are grappling with a severe shortage of textbooks due to delays in the distribution system, affecting about 10 lakh students in Classes 1 to 8. Teachers and students have been forced to adopt temporary measures, including reusing old textbooks, utilizing printouts of e-books, and reducing homework assignments. Education rights activist Ashok Agarwal has written to the education secretary, highlighting that the delays violate a previous court order that assured timely distribution of textbooks at the start of the academic year. The Delhi government’s 'Free Supply of Textbooks' scheme aims to provide free textbooks to all students in government and aided schools, but many schools report that textbooks often arrive late, typically around May. Teachers are stepping in to provide photocopied materials to ensure continuity in learning, with some students sharing textbooks from those who graduated. Queries to the Delhi government regarding the issue have gone unanswered.