GUWAHATI: Organisers of the Northeast Book Fair, currently under way here since Friday, say that even as the fair has made its 20 appearance this year, the pan-region flavour still eludes the exposition with majority of the 200 participants hailing from Assam.
The All Assam Publishers and Book Sellers Association has been organizing the fair since 1995.
“The Northeast Book Fair has come a long way since it was incepted at the Judges Field in 1995. However, while we have got participants from outside the Northeast, and even Bangladesh this year, none from Meghalaya, Mizoram or Arunachal Pradesh and the rest of the region, are participating,” the association’s president, Ajit Kumar Barman told The Shillong Times on Sunday.
This edition, as many as 275 stalls have been put up at the Assam Engineering Institute playground in Chandmari. Apart from participants from Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Ludhiana and Kanpur, the fair features three book stalls from Bangladesh.
“We have tried to contact book sellers in Meghalaya but unfortunately there were none who could take part in the fair. Nevertheless, our endeavour has been to make the Northeast Book Fair live up to its name for which more publishers from states such as Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have to take active part,” Barman said.
The association, which has been urging the state government for financial support over the years, has to invest between Rs 60lakh and Rs 70 lakh for organising the 10-day fair.
The Publication Board, Assam, has this year lined up five book fairs, including one for children, this season.
“The government offers financial support to the Board, which is fair enough being a government undertaking. But other book fairs also require the same support. We also want that instead of distributing free books among students, the government should provide scholarships so that book sellers can sustain themselves. But of course, if the books are procured from the book sellers and thereafter distributed free of cost, we are not affected,” he said.
The association further said that there was an urgent need to upgrade the existing libraries of the state. “These libraries are craving for infrastructure upgrade and adequate books. There is also a need for a national library in Assam,” Barman said.
The All Assam Students’ Union chief advisor, Samujjal Bhattacharjee had recently called for setting up and upgrading existing libraries in schools across Assam so that book reading can be inculcated among the younger generation.
