Kolkata Book Fair will be world’s best: CM

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, at the inauguration of the 47th Kolkata International Book Fair on Thursday, said that she will have 150 books to her name by next year. She also stated that Kolkata Book Fair will be world’s best fair.

She has already taken an unbeatable lead among the serving chief ministers in the country with about 143 books under her name.

Banerjee learnt she had already completed authoring 136 books till last year. Seven of her new books were launched this year. She hoped she would be able to finish writing a total of 150 books by the next year. At least eight of her books were written in Urdu while over 17 were translated in Santhali, Punjabi and Hindi.

Banerjee said her first book was published in 1995. She inaugurated the book fair with the state song of Bengal playing in the background. The book fair will end on January 31. On January 20, “Bangladesh Diwas” will be celebrated at the book fair. On January 21, “Sishu Diwas” will be celebrated and special programmes will be conducted for the children on that day. “Senior Citizen Day” will be celebrated at the book fair on January 24.

The focal theme of the Kolkata Book Fair 2024 is the United Kingdom. Six popular British authors will grace the event. There will be many writers, poets, and foreign guests compared to last year. The number of stalls at the book fair kept increasing over the years and so did the footfall with the government facilitating the infrastructure and taking care of other necessities.

Before the inauguration of the festival, Banerjee visited several book stalls and spoke to the booksellers. She virtually inaugurated the Centre of Excellence on Data Science and Machine Learning which is under the State Information and Technology department. She also inaugurated “UK theme country pavilion” at the 47th International Book Fair.

For the first time in its history, the book fair will have over 1,000 stalls. There will be an increase in the number of little magazine stalls too, Guild President Tridib Chatterjee had said.

Around 20 countries are participating, including the USA, France, Germany, Bangladesh, Italy, Spain, Russia, Thailand, Peru, Argentina, Columbia, Mexico, Cuba among others. Banerjee said that the Kolkata book fair has transformed to “Biswa Mela”. Sharing her London experience, she said: “I know the roads

of London. I do not travel by car when I go there. I walk along the streets. It is similar to our streets.”

She said the relations between India and the UK have spanned over a long time since the Battle of Plassey in 1757. “Since 1757, the British had ruled India till Independence. During this several architectural edifices have been constructed by them. Many Indian people have either studied in Oxford, Cambridge or the London School of Economics”, she said.

Sudhanshu Dey, general secretary of the Publishers and Booksellers’ Guild, said: “The book fair has always been special and it always received a great deal of government support. But, Mamata Banerjee’s association with the book fair and her active participation made things more feasible and viable for us.”