Patna, (Bihar Times): All government departments, including Sarva Sikhsa Abhiyan, universities, schools etc have been directed to buy books from the Book Fair. This was announced by the chief minister, Nitish Kumar, while inaugurating the 16th Patna Book Fair on December 7. He said that the purchase of books by the state government would keep the interest of Book Fair organizers alive.

pix: Manish Sinha

He said that in this regard the state government had allocated Rs 20 crore for 800 middle and 600 high schools of the state for purchasing books from the fair. The chief minister claimed that previous Patna Book Fairs used to be number one in terms of people visiting them per day and second in terms of business.

He urged the youths to enrich their knowledge by buying books. The chief minister disagreed with the former chief minister, Dr Jagannath Mishra, who also spoke on the occasion, that there had been decline in the percentage of Bihari youths making to the different competitive examination. Nitish said the youths of the state had excelled everywhere and hoped that they would continue to perform well. Incidentally, this year’s book fair has been dedicated to youths. He, however, agreed that the libraries in the state are in bad condition. However, he assured that the government would soon bring an ordinance for their upgradation.

Dr Jagannath Mishra, on the other hand, disclosed that the state spends only Rs 68 lakhs on libraries. He urged the state government to bring about qualitative change in the libraries of the state and start the book bank scheme.

Last year’s book fair registered a sale of Rs 15 to 20 lakh per day while on an average drew 50,000 to 55,000 visitors per day. Besides, there was institutional buying too, informed the president of the Orgaizing Committee, H L Gulati.

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