Jamshedpur, Nov. 26: The 34th Jamshedpur Annual Book Fair concluled amid concerns on Sunday. . The ten-day fair at the Rabindra Bhawan in Sakchi saw a footfall of thirty four thousand, which according to organisers is fifteen hundred less than 2017. The publishers also saw a dip in the sale and books worth Rs 45 lakh were sold this year compared to Rs 55 lakh in the previous year.
Ashis Chowdhury, general secretary of Tagore Society, the organisers of the fair said that there are several reasons behind the decline in sale of books.
“Availability of PDF books in much lesser price on the internet, there is a trend of purchasing books online were readers get upto 40% discount and corporate companies which used to buy books from the fair are directly purcahsing it from the publishers at 25% discount are the reason behind the dip in sale”, added Chowdhury.
The main speakers at the conluding function expressed their worries on the decline in sale of books and said that book lovers are also diminishing in Jamshedpur. Chief Guest for the occasion Dr. Goutam Das Gupta said mobile is the main reason why youths today are not interested in reading books which is big worry. Dr. HS Pal, President, Tagore Academy, said, “We were hoping that more readers would thorng the book fair this year but all their hopes have been gone begging”.
Ashis Chowdhury further said that the reason behind organising the book fair has not been met and it’s high time that elders informed the children about the importance of books. Sahinta Lahiri was also present at the event.
It may be noted that 72 publishers were part of the 34th Jamshedpur book fair which started on November 16 and concluded on November 25.