Touching upon the importance of taking books to households with children during the COVID-19 period, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that reading can help reduce the mental tensions created by the pandemic.
He was speaking after inaugurating the Reading Week Celebrations organised by the State government, Kerala State Library Council and the P.N.Panicker Foundation through video conferencing on Saturday.
“Children are one of the most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. They are facing a lot of physical and mental difficulties during this period. If we can make books accessible to them during this period, it can ease a lot of their pressures,” said Mr. Vijayan.
He said that P.N.Panicker had played a key role in starting libraries in many parts of the State and in nurturing them. The Kerala Granthashala Sangham was formed due to his efforts. He also spoke on the role played by I.V.Das in the library movement. Mr.Vijayan declared the Perumkulam village in Kottarakkara taluk as a ‘book village’ acknowledging the role of the Bappuji Library, which turned almost the entire population there into avid readers.
Higher Education Minister R. Bindu, who presided over the function at the Government Model Girls Higher Secondary School, Pattom, said that reading has played a key role in the onward journey and progress of the human race. As part of the ‘No digital divide’ campaign, she inaugurated the distribution of smart phones for the students.
In another related event, Minister for Local Self-governments M.V.Govindan inaugurated the Reading Day celebrations organised by libraries run by local bodies.
He said that reading is an unavoidable part of social, cultural and political life for Malayalis. He said that the library movement in the State had gained strength along with the freedom movement and aided in the social reform movements too. The theatre movement and other cultural movements in the State were a continuation of this, he said.
