Government initiatives on literacy to be the focus of 22nd Delhi Book Fair

“We are trying to create better reading habits among the youth and get them involved in the process through the medium of book reading and story telling sessions, nukkad natak and magic shows. We will also have authors’ corners,” Jayanta Das, General Manager, ITPO said. National campaigns launched in the past two years will find place in the Theme Pavillion which will be transformed into a selfie station.

Initiatives like ‘Make in India’, ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, ‘Digital India’, ‘Skill India’, ‘Startup India’, ‘Smart Cities’, ‘Startup India’, and ‘Umang’ (Unified mobile app for New-age Governance), will dominate the pavillion where visitors will be able to click selfies with cut-outs depicting the respective campaigns.

“One of the major attractions will also be ‘selfie station’ which is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visions of skill development, start ups, swacch bharat etc. All these campaigns have been put together and highlighted to create awareness among students,” Das said.

The fair, like all its previous editions will showcase a wide range of fictions and non-fictions, academic books besides plenty of children’s literature and other varieties of publications including digital innovations, in order to promote literacy and higher education among children and the youth.

The organisers have also decided to offer special facilities for students and the teaching community, who will be provided free entry to the fair, provided they are in their uniforms, Das said.

Exhibitors include both Indian and foreign publishers, book sellers and distributors, educational institutions, manufacturers and dealers of teaching aids, periodicals and magazines and e-books.

To make the fair more interactive for the visitors, ITPO has planned to introduce book reading sessions, band performances, on-the –spot competitions, film screenings, quizzes, street plays and storytelling sessions.

For the convenience of the visitors, new mobile applications detailing the locations of the exhibitors and ancillary activities will be made available to facilitate easy access at the fair.