NATIONAL CONVENTION OF INDIAN PUBLISHERS HELD IN AGARTALA

The 11th National Convention of Indian Publishers was held at Agartala on 6-7 March 2009. The Convention was organised by FIP in association with the Tripura Publishers Guild. The Convention was inaugurated by Prof. Arunoday Saha, Vice Chancellor, Tripura University. Apart from Tripura publishers, publishers from Manipur, Kolkata, Assam and Meghalaya participated in the Convention. From FIP, Dr. Ashok Gupta, Smt. Asha Rani and he himself were present. The Convention was very well attended and the local publishers and booksellers showed keen interest in the varied topics discussed during the Convention.

The National Book Trust, India, an autonomous organization under the Ministry of HRD, had sanctioned grant-in-aid for the organization of National Convention of Indian publishers at Agartala. 

NATIONAL CONVENTION OF INDIAN PUBLISHERS HELD IN CHANDIGARH

The 12th National Convention of Indian Publishers was held at Punjab Arts Council Auditorium, Chandigarh, on 13-14 March 2009. 

In the absence of Prof. R.C. Sobti, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University, who was to inaugurate the Convention and who could not come owing to certain unforeseen circumstances, the Convention was inaugurated by Shri K.L. Zakir, Secretary, Haryana Urdu Academy. 

Publishers, booksellers and authors from Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and some other cities of Punjab participated in the Convention. FIP was very well represented with about 10 members including the President, Shri R.C. Govil, participating in the Convention. 

The topics discussed at the Convention were (i) Copyright: How to enforce it?; (ii) Publishing in Regional languages (Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and English); (iii) Problems of Publishers and Booksellers; (iv) Publishing of Translations; and (v) Authors: Their Problems and Perspectives and Readership: Is it Declining? 

The Convention was very well attended and the participants evinced keen interest in the topics discussed during the Convention and the interaction that followed each session. Prominent authors, leading publishers and booksellers from the Punjab region were among the large number of speakers at the Convention. The Convention was a grand success.

A copy each of the invitation card and the printed folder of the Convention are enclosed.

The National Book Trust, India, an autonomous organization under the Ministry of HRD, had sanctioned grant-in-aid for the organization of National Convention of Indian publishers at Chandigarh. 

NATIONAL CONVENTION OF INDIAN PUBLISHERS HELD IN MANIPUR

The 13th National Convention of Indian Publishers was held in the Conference Hall of the State Guest House in Imphal, Manipur, in collaboration with the Writers’ Forum, Imphal, on 6-7 May 2009. 

The Convention was inaugurated by Shri Gurbachan Jagat, Governor of Manipur, on the evening of 6 May. Speaking on the occasion  Shri Gurbachan Jagat said that with the advancement in IT and IT enabled services, the access to information becomes faster and easier and anyone can access any information through ‘Internet’ in seconds.

“It was thought that printed books will become obsolete in this environment, but books continue to be as popular as before the advent of this technology. Innovations like e-book, etc. still have not impacted printed books. One major problem of the information available on the net is its reliability and printed books will perhaps continue their popularity in the future”, He said.

For developing countries like India and particularly the State of Manipur, the role of book publishers is very important as through them all branches of knowledge are being spread in society. They deserve every encouragement from all sides, he added.

Many talented poets, writers have been and are born in the state. It is famous for its games and sports, dances, theatre, cinema, etc. and its beautiful and unique cultural heritage contributes to the enrichment of the glorious and aged-old cultural mosaic of the country, he said, questioning himself on why is the publication of books in Manipur not upto our expectations. The most important factor could be the small market, he observed. He was confident that the efforts of the Convention would help in creating awareness on the short and long term strategic and policy implications for the challenges and prospects of publishing in the State of Manipur. He complimented the Federation of Indian Publishers and the Writers’ Forum, Imphal for organizing the Convention and exhorted them to contribute their best to promoting the trade of book publication.

Shri Ratan Thiyam, prominent Theatre Director, who was the Guest of Honour, said the Convention will give a wave to the publishers and added that there is need for writers and publishers of the state to join hands with FIP and try to publish books.

Scholar N. Thombi, who also spoke, expressed the need for building a common platform for the writers and publishers. The recent formation of a body of the publishers will help a lot in building the common platform. 

More than 100 persons from all walks of life, including, publishers, authors, writers, poets, artists, academicians and booklovers, were present during the Inaugural Session Shri Shakti Malik, Shri S. Balwant and Shri Narender Kumar Verma represented FIP at the Convention. 

The Business Session on 7 May reflected the various aspects of the problems faced by the publishers of the North Eastern States and was devoted to (i) Challenges of Publishing in Meghalaya; (ii) Challenges of Publishing in Tripura; (iii) Challenges of Publishing in Manipur; (iv) Translation and Marketing; (v) Use of Internet in Publishing; and (vi) Challenges of Publishing in Assam. Around 87 persons participated in the Business Session. 

In his speech, Shri Shakti Malik, inter alia, said that the Federation would be happy to give 50% discount  in stall rentals to regional languages publishers for their participation  in the Delhi Book Fair 2009. He requested the Governor to sponsor the participation of some publishers from Manipur to cover stall rentals and expenses on their to and fro travel and stay in Delhi. The Governor then publicly declared   that he would ask the Government of Manipur to sponsor the participation of some Manipur publishers in the Delhi Book Fair. The Governor also said that the Manipur Central Library has been destroyed in a fire with the result that there were hardly any books left in the library. He wondered if FIP could donate at least 100 books to the Library. Shri Shakti Malik immediately announced that the Federation will be happy to donate 200 books for the Library, a gesture which was much appreciated by one and all.  

Some recommendations were made at the Convention. The foremost of these were: (i) the Library Movement in the North East States be strengthened  by reviving the sick libraries and opening new libraries at the District and Sub-divisional headquarters as well as  Schools and Panchayats; (ii) a library period be introduced in the schools with a view to inculcate reading habits among the students right from  their childhood; (iii) a regular training course/workshop be organised  for translation, production and marketing of books professionally; (iv) a two-day Seminar be organised on translation of regional and allied subjects in Shillong/Guwahati under the umbrella of the Federation of North East Publishers with the guidance and sponsorship of FIP. 

The entire proceedings of the Convention were widely covered by the print and electronic media of the area. From all accounts, the Convention was a grand success. 

The National Book Trust, India, an autonomous organization under the Ministry of HRD, had sanctioned grant-in-aid for the organization of National Convention of Indian publishers at Imphal. 

National Convention of Indian Publishers