KOTTAYAM: The Government has taken serious note of the revival plans submitted by the administration of the Sahithya Pravarthaka Cooperative Society (SPCS), Cooperation Minister G. Sudhakaran has said.

Speaking on the occasion of the release of the 31st edition of the premier Malayalam dictionary Sabdatharavali here on Saturday, the Minister said the Government had received various proposals in this regard. The Ministers for Finance, Education and Cooperation would sit together with the SPCS authorities before a comprehensive long-term strategy would be chalked out, he said.

The decision to bring out the reprint of the dictionary was part of a short-term strategy to give some breathing space for the writers' cooperative which had found itself in a difficult position, he said adding that the only positive effort to bring back the cooperative to its glory was taken during the period of the last Left Democratic Front Government. However, the SPCS again fell into bad times, he said.

The SPCS was an organisation which had taken care of all aspects of the publishing industry and the key element in reviving the cooperative would be to make it as competitive as any other business firm, Mr. Sudhakaran said referring to Stalin's call for ensuring `American efficiency' in the then nascent socialist industries in Soviet Union. The revival strategy included roping in professional management experts, he said.

The crisis faced by the Malayalam language writers' cooperative was symbolic of the attitude the Kerala society as a whole had towards the mother tongue, Mr. Sudhakaran said. The Government was committed to strengthening Malayalam. Steps had already been taken in this regard, he said adding that for strengthening the language, it was imperative to have a `culture of language' in the Kerala society.

Reeba Varkey, municipal chairperson, received the copy of Sabdatharavali. V.N. Vasavan, MLA, presided.

C.G. Vasudevan Nair, who received this year's P.N. Panicker Award and Maria Rose Dominic, who got the State Library Council award, were extended felicitation on the occasion.

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