PHOTO: S. JAMES
Developing knowledge: Thangam Thennarasu, Minister for School Education, at the inauguration of the fair in the city on Friday. —
MADURAI: The second Madurai Book Festival was inaugurated on the Tamuklam Grounds by the Minister for School Education, Thangam Thennarasu, on Friday.
The Minister said that a sum of Rs. 21 crore would be spent by the Government for procuring books for libraries. Speaking about the inaugural edition of the festival conducted last year, he said that it received very good patronage from the public with sales touching nearly Rs. 3 crore. “Such patronage shows that reading habit has not died down among people as was feared when the Internet came into being.” The Collector, S.S. Jawahar, said that one could find more than five crore books on nearly five lakh topics at the exhibition.
The BAPASI president, Gandhi Kannadasan, said that though the exhibition was being held only for the second time in Madurai, it was being held in Chennai for 30 years. The Madurai East Constituency MLA, N. Nanmaran, said that this exhibition was being conducted at a time when more and more Tamil people were moving away from their native linguistic identity.
The Mayor, G. Thenmozhi, said that the rent for the Tamukkam Ground had been reduced from Rs, 10,000 to nearly one tenth for the exhibition.
The entry to the 10-day festival is free.
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