GUWAHATI, Dec 29 � The 25th Guwahati Book Fair, organized by the Publication Board, Assam, got under way at the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre today with participation of more than 130 book sellers and publishers from different parts of the country.
Noted litterateur and journalist Homen Borgohain formally inaugurated the fair this afternoon in presence of Education Minister Gautam Bora and prominent writers including Arun Sarma, Harekrishna Deka, Promode Bhattacharya and others. Publication Board sources said that 25 new books published by the Board were released in the inaugural ceremony.
Sources said that of the book sellers and publishers participating in the fair, 12 each are from Delhi and Kolkata. This is for the second time that the fair is being held in the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre as the fair was earlier held either in the Judge�s Field or in the Assam Engineering Institute playground in Chandmari. The Publication Board has requested the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) to introduce bus services to the venue of the fair to ensure large scale participation in the fair, which will continue up to January 10.
There will be no entry fees for students and the Publication Board will organize different competitions like painting, recitation, quiz competition, etc. among the students during the fair.
It may be mentioned here that the Publication Board started the book fair movement in Assam by holding the first Guwahati book fair at the Judges Field in 1984 and though the fair was not held in the following two years, it became a yearly feature since 1987. Last year, the venue of the fair was shifted to the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre despite stiff opposition from different quarters.
