To inculcate an intense love for the books among the people, particularly the youth of the State, the State Government has decided to host a world book fair from August 28 to September 5 at the Parade Ground in Dehradun. The fair to be organised by National Book Trust (NBT) would be jointly inaugurated by Governor Dr KK Paul and Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. The theme of the first world book fair would be ‘Padega Uttarakhand, Badega Uttarakhand’. Unfurling the plan, the State higher education Dr Dhan Singh Rawat said during a press conference here on Saturday that it would hopefully play an important role in reviving the now dying interest of the people in the world of books.
“We are concerned over the rapidly declining interest among people for books. Their interest now is being diverted in myriad realms, taking them far away from the wealth enshrined within the leaves of the books. However, such a trend is detrimental to their interests as they cannot move further if they are not adequately equipped with knowledge. And there is no better way to acquire knowledge than reading books. The reading habit must be revived at any cost,” he said, adding that around 200 publishers are expected to open their stalls in the fair.
“As the State Government has pledged to make Uttarakhand a 100 percent literate State by 2019 the fair would play a supportive role in the objective,” the minister said.
He further said that during the nine day book fair, the State Government would organise different programmes from 11 am to 8 pm daily. “Workshop, discussion, debate, cultural programmes, inter school and inter university competition and interaction with noted writers, educationists and social workers would be held in the fair ground.
The vice- chancellors of the universities based in the State have been invited too to attend this fair daily to enthuse their students into coming to the fair to see and buy books. There would be a 20 percent discount on the books penned by spiritual giants while the students who would come along with their identity cards would get 20 percent discount on every purchase,” Rawat said. “Furthermore, the world book fair would help the people get acquainted with the world classics,” he added.
During the media interaction, the Minister was supported by joint director higher education Savita Mohan, deputy director Harshwanti Bisht, DAV College principal Dr Devendra Bhashin, who has been given the assignment of coordinating with the media, and assistant director NBT Mayank Surolia.