21st edition of Delhi Book Fair begins

The 21st edition of the Delhi Book Fair started on Saturday with Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh inaugurating the week-long fair at Pragati Maidan here.

Delivering the inaugural address, Singh, the minister (independent charge) for development of the north-eastern region, said the advent of internet is not a threat to writing but an advantage for budding authors.

He said young authors who are unable to find a publisher for themselves, now have the option of posting their writings, whether prose or poetry, on electronic media and seek worldwide readership.

Singh also said that a publisher's job does not end with printing a saleable book by a a known author, his job is to discover unknown authors and promote hidden talent.

India is an evolving society and therefore overcoming certain existing practices and adapting to new realities is a challenge which also affects the field of writing and publishing, he added.

Moreover, in a country like India, the demands of readers are diverse and variable while another concern is to keep the book price at a purchasable level.

In this context, he assured the publishers that the present government was keen to clear the bottlenecks that came in the way of creating literature which is conducive to the emerging global status of contemporary India.