Nepal, April 8 -- Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Prakash Pathak has called for an end to what he described as an annual "racket" worth Rs 11.84 billion linked to school textbooks.

Speaking during the zero hour of Wednesday's meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR), Pathak urged the government to end disparities in textbooks and uniforms between community and private schools.

He claimed that frequent changes in the school curriculum each year place a financial burden on parents. According to him, despite the government's directive not to charge admission fees, around 2.4 million students across the country spend an average of Rs 5,000 each on textbooks within 21 days, amounting to a total of Rs 11.84 billion.

Pathak alle...