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Centre likely to call off 30th New Delhi World Book Fair
The main organiser of the 30th edition of the Delhi World Book Fair , however, has sent a report to the Central government regarding the possibilities of the fair, which included postponing it to April 2021
Following guidelines issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) amid the rise in Covid-19 cases, the Ministry of Education (MoE) may cancel the nine-day New Delhi Annual World Book Fair, scheduled to begin from January 8. The National Book Trust (NBT) – the main organiser of the 30th edition of the fair, however, has sent a report to the central government regarding the possibilities of the fair, which included postponing it to April 2021.
A senior official of the MoE, said that taking note of the sudden rise in the cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19, the ministry may decide to postpone the book fair.
“Though the DDMA, in its advisory, has banned the organisation of only business-to-business events, it’ll not be a wise decision to organise this fair – a business-to-customer event – for safety reasons as thousands of people come to this event every year. The official order in this connection will be issued soon as the options of postponing the event to April this year or organising it as per schedule in virtual mode are under consideration,” he said, requesting anonymity.
When contacted, Govind Prasad Sharma, the chairman of NBT, also said that he had apprised the MoE about the bottlenecks in organising the book fair in the present scenario. “We’ve informed the MoE about the risks in organising this fair. Most publishers have expressed their unavailability for this edition of the book fair. We don’t have much time left for the preparations. And, considering the expected heavy footfall, the organisers will never take the risk with the lives of people. The fair is almost cancelled. Now, we are just waiting for the orders from the ministry,” he said.
Sharma also said that the New Delhi World Book Fair is one of the most prestigious and largest book events in the Afro-Asian region and has acquired a high reputation among the international publishing industry. “Organised since 1972, the theme for this year was ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ - 75 years of Indian Independence. With France as the guest country, a special Children’s Authors’ Corner and Yuva Corner were supposed to attract young talent in this edition,” he said.
