Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the 52nd edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) at the Bharat Mandapam here on Saturday and stressed on the importance of books.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister highlighted that this year’s theme of the fair ‘Multilingual India: A Living Tradition’ is celebrating India’s linguistic diversity and global literary traditions.

He said that the fair is a harmonious amalgamation of literature, diverse cultures, artistic expressions and knowledge.

Multilingualism is the core of our diversity and therefore, language and books are assets to realise the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047, as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, added Pradhan.

The minister also emphasized the need to nurture a book-loving and book-reading society that fosters forward-looking ideas for building a progressive social order as the country marches to realise the goal of Viksit Bharat.

Pradhan also launched the app of the National Digital Libraries for All, announced in the Budget 2023-34. The National e-library is a first-of-its-kind digital library for accessing a variety of non-academic books for children and adolescents based on the Prime Minister’s vision statement, “When citizens read, the country leads.”

Among others, the minister also unveiled the innovative learning E-learning platform, ‘E-Jaadui Pitara’, which is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and also released the Hindi and English Braille editions of the book Exam Warriors penned by Prime Minister and published by the NBT (National Book Trust)-India.

Saleh bin Eid Al-Husseini, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to India, in his address, stressed the mutual commitment to deepen ties between the countries.

He drew similarities between India’s Amrit Kaal and the 2030 vision of Saudi Arabia as there is a shared commitment to a better future.

Milind Sudhakar Marathe, chairman of the NBT-India also stressed the role of NDWBF as a platform for fostering intellectual dialogue and promoting readership.

Talking about the theme of the fair, the chairman said , “There is a unity in India that manifests itself through its linguistic diversity.”

The fair is on from 10th to 18th February 2024 at Halls 1 to 5, Pragati Maidan from 11.00 am to 8.00 pm. Entry is FREE for children in school uniform, for senior citizens, and for differently-abled. Tickets are available online at ITPO’s website, and at select metro stations.