Despite pumping in huge amount of funds every year,the Maharashtra Governments Gaav tithe Granthalay (Library per village) scheme seems to be growing at a slower pace. In the year 2005,the state had 7,000 libraries and with an average increase of 500-700 libraries per year,today,we have 9,000 libraries across the state. Our aim is to have one library per village, said W H Kumthe,assistant director,Libraries,Pune division. It thus goes without saying that going by the fact that the state has 42,000 grampanchayats,the scheme growing at the current rate will be complete by 2075. The scheme was launched by the government of Maharashtra in the year 1970 with a motive to promote readership in remote villages and to create more number of libraries across the state. As a part of the scheme,every year,grants are given to libraries in various categories starting with- startups as grade D going up to C,B and A- the established ones. For the D grade libraries,the government grant is Rs 20,000 per year,the same for C is Rs 64,000,B- 1,28,000 and A- 1,92,000. Pune division that includes five districts like Sangli,Solapur,Satara,Kolhapur and Pune,has a budget of Rs 15 crores for the year 2009,that has grown by about four crores in the past four years, said Kumthe. While the government officials are satisfied with the progress of the scheme,the library owners seem to be finding it difficult to meet the eligibility criteria. While grade D demands a collection of 300 books worth Rs 25,000 along with an employed librarian,upgradation to grade C needs the same to be 1000 books and two employees- one librarian and one clerk. Our library was registered under the scheme in the year 1989 under grade D. But post that,we have not been able to meet the criteria that is specified by the government of Maharashtra for grade C due to the increased costs that it involves. As a result,we have never been able to upgrade our grade and thus the grant, said Vijay Dange,owner of Sangli-based Hanuman Wachanalay. I have been running my library named- Rajaram Bapu Wachanalay at Islampur under grade D for the past three years and have been getting a grant of Rs 64,000 per year. But according to the specifications of grade C,I also have to spend Rs 32,000 on employee wages along with added expenses such as the rent,purchasing books and so on. We had requested the government to double the amount of grants for which the officials informed that they need approvals, said Anis Momin,owner,Rajaram Bapu Wachanalay,Islampur.
