AGARTALA, February 23 (TIWN): The 33rd annual Agartala book fair got off to a flying start with chief minister Manik Sarkar calling for popularisation of books, wider reading habits and growth of a healthy knowledge-based culture. Like previous year, this year toO the Agartala book fair at Umakanta School ground attracts a bee storming gathering of the avid readers across the state. Huge footfalls of the book lovers make the 33rd Agartala book fair to achieve a grand success. The book fair like previous year staged several cultural programmes along with seminars taking certain burning issues of the state related to the fair. Book sellers from Agartala, Kolkata, Delhi, Guwahati has participated in the book fair which had around 130 stalls in all. But due to the unstable situation in the neighbouring country Bangladesh, the publishers were unable to stall their books in Agartala book fair this year.

Thousands of avid readers flocked to the ongoing twelve-day book fair in Agartala that not only displays books of the state, but also provides a platform for an interaction between both readers and writers. The Agartala Book Fair began from February 13. Book lovers consider the fair to be a golden opportunity for getting the best collection of their favorite writers which they rarely get to see in the Agartala market during the other times in the year. There are 300 to 350 new books being published from Tripura during this time of the year keeping in mind the annual book fair.  

The fair, inaugurated by Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, is hosting books in around 20 languages, including tribal and regional languages on diverse topics.  Meanwhile, the devoted book readers who visits this fair every year, says that such fairs give a boost not only to well-known writers, but also to new authors. Talking to the sellers at the fair recently, it could be known that like every year this year too they have come here to stall books of various authors and publishers to encourage the children as well the adults. “We are receiving a good response from the Agartala book lovers”, said the sellers. However, it is mentionable here that the Agartala book fair this year has come up with a theme “plastic free fair”. According to the book lovers here, “this type of fair not only creates a healthy atmosphere in North Eastern states, but the huge participation of people particularly the youth proves that Tripura is gradually moving towards normalcy”. But this year, the only exceptional is that people are able to see the smiling portrait of Anil Sarkar, who coined the concept of the book fair in the entrance of the fair.

 Altogether 119 publishers have opened stalls in the fair, of whom 67 are based in Agartala, 42 have come from Calcutta, three from Delhi, four from Guwahati and one each from Mumbai, Kerala and Bangladesh. The fair will remains open every day from 2pm to 8.30pm on working days. The book fair would end on February 24.

It may be recalled here that Chief Minister Manik Sarkar inaugurating the 33rd Agartala book fair said that “Despite the phenomenal growth of other forms of media like e-books, TV channels and Internet, the value of traditionally written books remains undiminished. We must develop interest among students for reading books.” Sarkar also contradicted views expressed by a section of the intelligentsia that in the age of Internet interest in books was declining and said "books are forever".

It is to be mention that the first Agartala Book Fair held was held in 1981 and since then the scenario of publishing started to change very rapidly. Along with the common people, various schools, colleges, institutes, libraries and academic centers also collected books in bulk from the fair.