In our view, the timely textbook delivery under the Samarth Programme of the Government of Himachal Pradesh witnessed a shift from being ‘Comatose’ with low ‘political salience’ and low ‘system capacity’ to ‘Shooting Star’ with high ‘political salience’ and low ‘system capacity, then to ‘Battle Ready’ with high ‘political salience’ and high ‘system capacity’ over a period of 2 years in the years 2017 and 2018.

The timely textbook delivery initiative aimed to deliver textbooks to all government school students before the start of the next academic session.

Historically, there was limited focus on timely delivery of textbooks, with delays being common. Political salience was elevated, with the Principal Secretary, Department of Elementary Education, being actively involved. Clear goal setting was done with all system actors working towards the goal, thereby creating momentum for wider systemic reforms.

Increased political salience enabled the shift from the 'Comatose' to 'Shooting Star'; the same also being observed in the media. Following which system capacity was built over the next couple of months on the people, process and infrastructure fronts. On the people front, the roles and responsibilities of each official at every level were clearly defined. This clarity in roles allowed the initiative to be prioritized by all stakeholders. On the process front the supply chain of textbooks was reimagined, the process of demand collection was streamlined backwards from timeline planning and clarity in communication was ensured at all levels through cascaded review mechanisms. Further, district level workshops were conducted to ensure alignment and training of officials on the new standard operating procedures. On the infrastructure front, technological infrastructure for tracking and monitoring of textbooks was set up that enabled the construction of a data pipeline to generate real-time visibility at all levels.

With this, in the state of Himachal Pradesh textbooks were delivered timely to all students for the very first time in 2017.

The increase in salience towards the initiative and improved system capacity on the people, process and infrastructure fronts enabled institutionalization of the initiative, with timely textbook delivery becoming the norm in the state.