Agartala Feb 06: Based on the theme of “Bhavya Bharat”, 42nd Agartala Book Fair will commence from February 21 next and will continue till March 05. Like previous years, this year too the grand fair will be held at the Hapania International Fair ground premises.
The fair will start from 2:30 pm and continue till 9:00 pm every day. However, for holidays, the closing time has been extended for more half an hour.
Aiming to make the fair a success, Tuesday, a meeting was held with the members of the management committee at the Conference Hall of Agartala Municipal Corporation Office where AMC Mayor Dipak Majumder, Deputy Speaker of Tripura Legislative Assembly Ram Prasad Paul, Chief Whip of Tripura Legislative Assembly Kalyani Roy, Director ICA Dept. Bimbiswar Bhattacharjee among others remained present.
The ICA Director mentioned that 8 different sub- committees including one organizer and one management committee have been formed for this year’s book fair.
“So far, 141 applications have been submitted for stalls among which 132 applications were received for setting up book stalls and 9 stalls for other organizations. The lottery for stall distribution will be held at the ICA Office on February 12 at 3:00 pm in the afternoon”, said Bhattacharjee.
Talking about the programs to be held during the fair he said, “The opening and closing day of the fair will be dedicated to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay and Dr Shyamaprasad Mukherjee. Cultural programs will be organized from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM every day except the opening and closing days. During the 8 days of the fair, 40 minutes will be allocated for different districts of the state. Moreover, 30 minutes for folk music and 15 minutes for classical music have been allotted in each day's cultural program”.
The Director further said that on the occasion of the book fair, a poet conference will be held from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Seminars, quizzes, impromptu speech competitions will also be organized on the occasion of this book fair.
A new award named Best Little Magazine Award will be introduced at this year’s book fair.
“The required application forms for all the awards given on the occasion of the Book Fair will be received till February 23”, he informed.
This time too, the Department will provide free bus service from Radhanagar, Chandrapur and from Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhavan to take the book lovers to the fairground.
Speaking to the reporters in this context, AMC Mayor Dipak Majumder said, “With the present government in charge, there has been a significant change in the thinking and management of Book Fair”.
He hoped for a successful fair that the book lovers and the common people will cherish.
The former vice chancellor of Tripura Central University Dr Arunoday Saha also discussed various aspects of organizing the fair in the meeting.
State Cultural Advisory Committee Vice President Subrata Chakraborty, SFMCC Chairman Nabendu Bhattacharya, Tripura Times proprietor Avishikta Lodh, Eminent Poet Nakul Das, All Tripura Publishers Association Editor Uttam Chakraborty along with representatives of the Department of Power, Education, Rural Development also remained present at the day’s meeting.