Ramakrishna Mission has given six stalls in the International Kolkata Book Fair in view of the fast popularity of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Vedanta literature. Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park, has opened its stall (409) at the fair which is being held at the Boimela Prangan at the Central Park in Salt Lake. Advaita Ashrama (199), Udbodhan (451), Sri Sarada Math (201), Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission (261) and Sarisha Ramakrishna Mission (383) are the stalls. It may be mentioned that in 2021-22 RKM spent Rs 13 crore to publish books.
An official of Publishers and Booksellers Guild said 20 publishers from the UK, USA, France, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Australia, Cuba, Mexico have joined the fair. Seventy publishers from Bangladesh have joined the fair. 4 February will be observed as Bangladesh Divas.
On that day there will be a seminar and a cultural programme. Childrenâs Day will be observed on 5 February to pay respects to Sukumar Ray, whose immortal creation Abol Tabol is celebrating its centenary. Ray is famous for his nonsense rhymes. Thousands of people, mostly youngsters, visited the fair on the first day, today.
The fair will remain open from 12 noon to 8pm. Snehashis Chakraborty, Transport minister said more public and private buses have been pressed into service to ferry book lovers in the city and adjoining districts. People are availing the newly-opened Metro services from Sealdah. They are getting down at Karunamoyee to reach the fair ground.
Guild officials expect more visitors this year. They said in 2022, books worth Rs 24 crore were sold and they expect the amount to go up this year.