Silchar Book Fair concludes; Poor turnout despite government incentive

A CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: The second edition of Silchar Book Fair organized by Assam Publication Board concluded here with a lukewarm response from the masses, particularly the government employees. Pramod Kalita, the Secretary of the Publication Board, said that this year, the sale amount in the ten-day fair was nearly Rs 30 lakh, much less than the previous edition. The board had organized the maiden book fair in Silchar in 2023 which evoked both public enthusiasm as well as commercial response as the transaction had touched Rs 40 lakh.

The State Government declared 2025 as the 'Year of Book' and announced a Rs 1000-incentive for all its employees appealing them to purchase books and get the amount reimbursed. However, this noble idea could not evoke much positive response amongst the government employees. Kalita said that only 1200 employees purchased books worth at least Rs 1000 under the incentive.

Book sellers however had a different narrative for the lukewarm response. One of the leading book vendors of Silchar said that this year, the publicity was much poorer than the previous edition. "Assam Publication Board being the organizer, we expected better publicity this time. May be back-to-back fairs in various districts might have affected their campaign wing," they said. Last time, the presence of eminent authors like Anuradha Sarma Pujari and Bengali litterateur Tilottama Majumder garnered public attention. This year, the list of guests did not include such big names. Moreover, examination season also affected the gathering.

However, the closing ceremony saw optimistic speeches from the Assam University Vice-Chancellor Dr Rajive Mohan Pant, Rouhin Deb, Chief Economic Advisor to the Chief Minister, and eminent writer Professor Amalendu Bhattacharjee.

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