Punjab govt urged to implement Libraries bill

Alleging that Punjab government has not purchased even a single book for public libraries in the last seven years, thus ignoring the state's repositories of information, a writers group urged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to take immediate steps to implement a bill to set up libraries in every village.
In a letter to Badal, MD, Punjabi Writers Co-operative Society, Ludhiana/Amritsar, Dr Charanjit Singh Gutmala said while the Centre sent grants to purchase books for the libraries, the state government did not contribute the 40 per cent matching grant, which resulted in the Central funds remaining unused.
Referring to Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan's promise during last elections to set up libraries in every village, he urged the Chief Minister to pass an ordinance to implement the ShabadParkash Punjab Public Library and Information Services Bill.

Gutmala asked the CM to immediately issue the 40 percent matching funds and start the project as it would require Rs 146 crore and 10 years to set up libraries in every village in a phased manner.