The Jammu and Kashmir school education authorities have issued directions for conducting a comprehensive screening of all books to ensure that “no book contains inappropriate or objectionable content”.The directions, dated July 6, follow the suspension of eight officials and supervisory staff of the School Education Department by J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha after two books containing “separatist content” were found to have been supplied to government schools.An order issued by the Directorate of School Education, Kashmir, stated that all heads of government schools, recognised private schools and coaching institutions should “conduct a comprehensive screening of all books (recently acquired or older publications) in their respective jurisdiction, including offices, classrooms, staffrooms and school library”.Officials said the purpose of the screening was to ensure that no book contained inappropriate or objectionable content.This includes material that may violate religious sentiments of any section and content that is inappropriate for students or against the prevailing laws with the potential of harming national interest. All material must align with the age-appropriate guidelines of the National Education Policy, 2020.The order stated that if any objectionable content was identified, the head of the institution shall prepare a detailed report containing the title of the book, year of publication and the name of author and publisher, and the number of books.It said the heads of all government institutions and recognised private institutions, including coaching centres, should complete the exercise with due diligence, maintain proper records of the screening and ensure “strict compliance with these instructions within the stipulated time frame and submit a compliance report to the chief education officer/zonal education officer concerned”.It said in cases where objectionable content was identified, a report must be submitted to the chief education officer/zonal education officer concerned within seven days from the date of the issue of this circular.“The zonal education officer concerned shall scrutinise and consolidate all such reports received from the schools and the coaching centres under their jurisdiction and submit a consolidated report to the office of the CEO concerned by July 15,” it said.The order further stated that the chief education officers of Kashmir Division shall submit the report, if any, to the office of the Directorate of School Education, Kashmir, by July 17.The order stated that any lapse in “compliance with these instructions shall be viewed seriously and will invite appropriate disciplinary action against the defaulting officer(s) under the applicable rules”.