Karnataka - Bangalore

Will book policy take shape by Rajyotsava day?

BANGALORE: Anxious over the Government’s response to the draft of a book policy that was submitted when the State was under President’s Rule, the Kannada Book Authority has sought implementation of the policy in the larger interests of streamlining book publication and marketing, and inculcating reading habit among people.

In the light of the Government’s concern and commitment to the cause of Kannada, KBA chairman Siddalingaiah is hopeful that the book policy will be a reality by the Rajyotsava day.

He told The Hindu here on Monday that his predecessor S.G. Siddaramaiah had submitted a draft of the first-ever comprehensive book policy to the Government before he relinquished office. “The draft has all the potential to curb unethical practices and encourage book culture. There is no point in sitting on the policy. I have communicated this to the Government”.

Checking irregularities in book purchase and regulating the duplication of publications of government-sponsored agencies, including academies and universities, were also the key aspects of the policy, he said.

Prof. Siddalingiah said that the KBA had urged the Government to consider the book policy as an integral part of the cultural policy, which was on the anvil.

The KBA and related academies and official bodies, and experts had held discussions on the issue. And following this, the KBA entrusted noted scholar G. Ramakrishna with the responsibility of preparing a draft policy, in October last.

Prof. Ramakrishna prepared the draft identifying the problems in areas such as literacy missions; libraries from the primary school to the college level and public libraries, right from gram panchayats to urban areas; quality of books; the shortcomings; and the alleged unethical methods in book-purchasing schemes. He also suggested various corrective measures. The draft was circulated among writers, subject experts and educationists, and an expert committee of the KBA incorporated the suggestions and submitted the draft to the Government in March.

The draft policy touched various aspects of book culture ranging from production to marketing and pricing to impact. It has come down heavily on the existing methods and ethics of book-purchasing schemes.

The draft policy suggests that the purchase of books should be based on requirement and quality and not on the popularity of publishers and writers; those who circulate the same books should be blacklisted; publishing houses that supply books under fictitious business names should be boycotted and such practices should be held punishable; the number of books to be purchased should be directly proportional to the overall number of books published in a year; and selection of books should transparent and qualitative.

It has also been requested that the library cess collected by the Government be transferred to the authorities concerned at all levels, for the development of libraries.

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike alone has not transferred an estimated Rs. 30 crore to the libraries.

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