A total of 51 FIRs have been lodged against the publication and dissemination of copies of textbooks from the National Council of Educational Research
and Training (NCERT) in the past three years, Jayant Choudhary, a Minister of State for Education, told Lok Sabha on Monday. According to him, there has been a mammoth 890% hike in the number of copies seized in 2025. Jayant explained that the majority of cases have been filed against bookshops and stalls. Although the cases started happening around 2023, the largest seizures of forged NCERT books occurred in 2025. Among all, Shahadra of Delhi and Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh reported huge cases of 1.96 lakh and 1.33 lakh copies, respectively. Apart from these, a significant tens of thousands of books were seized from Hapur and Loni in UP and Muzaffarpur, Bihar. “Instances have come to the notice of NCERT and law-enforcement agencies that certain private printers and unscrupulous entities have copied NCERT textbooks and circulated pirated or counterfeit versions in the market. Such activities violate the Copyright Act, 1957. NCERT regularly conducts awareness campaigns, issues public advisories, and coordinates with police authorities to curb the circulation of such fake books. During the last three years, several persons involved in the printing and distribution of fake books were apprehended and a significant quantity of textbooks were seized," the official statement reads. Fake NCERT Books Seized Between 2023 - 2025 Refer to the table below to check out the total number of textbooks seized in each year:
| Year | Number |
| 2023 | 4,117 |
| 2024 | 50,180 |
| 2025 | 497,066 |
How to Identify 'Original' NCERT Textbooks
To aware students about the 'original' version of books, NCERT released an official advertisement which states:
1. Before buying any NCERT textbook, make sure it carries the watermark of the NCERT logo shown below, on many pages in it
2. Check any eight consecutive pages, you will find watermark on at least two pages. If there is no watermark found, it means your book could be a pirated one.
Additional Note: No bookseller is allowed to sell any NCERT textbook beyond the actual price printed in it. Avoid buying a re-stiched/re-bound book at an extra cost. You have right to demand NCERT textbook in its original form, without any extra binding, at the price printed in it. Else, send complaint to the council.
Complaint about any fake/pirated NCERT textbooks or overcharging should be e-mailed to vigleg.ncert@gmail.com
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