Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

60 librarians to be appointed

— Photo: R. Sairam

Healthy effort: A view of the playground created at Keezhakuyilkudi panchayat on Saturday.

MADURAI: Sixty librarians will be appointed this year to the community libraries established in villages under Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam.

This would be in addition to the 52 librarians appointed last year, the Collector, S.S. Jawahar, told media persons after inspecting a community library and playground at Keezhakuyilkudi panchayat in the district on Saturday.

Anshul Mishra, Project Officer of District Rural Development Agency, accompanied him along with other Government officials.

The Collector said that a campaign would be launched in urban areas to collect used books that could be utilised for the rural libraries. “Many villages lack quality entertainment. Reading books will provide a good intellectual activity and also help the rural youth to gear up to face competitive examinations.”

Retired Government servants would be preferred for appointment as librarians. As many as 160 villages had been covered under the scheme over the past two years, said Mr. Jawahar.

Adjacent to the library, a playground had also been created and facilities provided for various outdoor sports such as cricket and tennicoit. Good potential existed for discovering talented sportsmen, especially in rural areas, from Madurai, Mr. Jawahar said.

Indoor games such as carrom and chess would be ready soon and a gymnasium comprising bench press, dumbbells and weights would also be provided. “To make use of these facilities, three teams each for outdoor and indoor sports have been formed. Contests will be conducted within blocks and gradually they will be taken to the district level,” he said.

A sum of Rs.1.8 lakh was spent on library and another Rs.85,000 for preparing playground and all the equipment.

Under this scheme, Rs.20 lakh would be spent on each village. To maintain the playground and the equipment, Rs.10,000 would be provided to each panchayat every year, said the Collector.

He added that a booklet comprising the rules of all games would be distributed to all youngsters.

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