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    The Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has called for strengthening of the system of public libraries to overcome the problem of high prices of books. The Prime Minister was speaking after inaugurating the 14^th World Book Fair here today. Shri Vajpayee said residential colonies and communities should set up their own libraries. He said these libraries will not only be more accessible to the common people, especially the children, but they will also foster a sense of community participation in making books available to all. He said, this experiment has been tried successfully in West Bengal, where numerous community-run libraries exist, catering to all age groups.

    The Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has urged the publishers to invest more in publishing books written in all Indian languages. He pointed out that there are fine authors who write in Indian languages and greater effort is called for to make their work available to readers from other regions.

    Inaugurating the 14^th World Book Fair here today, Shri Vajpayee said efforts should also be made to translate their work into English so that a larger number of people, both in India and abroad, have access to their books. The Prime Minister stressed the need for making books affordable, so that buyers are not constrained by the price line. He suggested strengthening the system of public libraries. He also urged the people to set up their own community libraries as is being done in West Bengal.

    The following is the text of the speech of the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the occasion:

    " I am happy to be here this morning to inaugurate the 14^th World Book Fair organised by the National Book Trust of India. Over the years, this biennial event has become popular among both book-lovers and publishers. The World Book Fair is now a gathering point for publishers from India and abroad.

    A book fair, however, is more than a trade event or a meeting place booksellers and publishers. A book fair, more so a world book fair, provides an opportunity to the people to keep tract of new ideas and perspectives.

    For, books are like windows that open up to the limitless world of knowledge. They encourage us to think and expand our horizon. They are the source of education and intellectual inspiration. Indeed, books serve to enlighten society , throughout human history, have proved to be more powerful than weapons of death and destruction.

    It is, therefore, not surprising that history is replete with instances of burning of books and sacking of libraries, to subjugate people, and establish political, racial or religious supremacy. The power of knowledge, of ideas of imagination, has always scared those who strength derives from bigotry and fundamentalism.

    W have seen books being burned from Berlin to Bradford. We have seen books being banned and authors persecuted. But neither burning nor banning has been able to suppress the human mind- ideas have survived, new ideas are being born and the quest for knowledge continues.

    Books, as we know them today, date back to the advent of the printing press. Before that they existed as hand-written texts. And, even before that, there was the oral tradition. In the beginning, of course, there was sabda, the word, as Brahma, the inner soul. Reverence for knowledge and dharma came to be identified with reverence in the book.

    India can boast of a rich oral tradition, dating back many millennia to the composition of the Vedas and Upanishads. Sruti was the means of handing down through generations our ancient texts over centuries. Sruti was that which was heard and realised. It was literature that sought to both enlighten the individual as well as serve the interest of the community.

    For instance, the Vedas are as much an instrument of salvation of the individual soul as the prosperity and well-being of the community at large. That oral tradition was to later transform itself into written tradition. First came the palm leaf manuscript. Later paper was used. Much later came the printing press.

    The spoken word of the oral tradition was restricted to those to whom it was passed on. The pothis, for obvious reasons, had limited access. The printing press, however, had a revolutionary impact – millions of people today have access to what was in the beginning sabda.

    From serving the basic needs of communicating fundamentals to a child and thus teaching the child to read and write, a book today serves many purposes. But the common factor of all these purposes still remains the same as that of the oral tradition: disseminating knowledge, basic and specialised.

    Knowledge that flows from ideas, knowledge that stems from experience, and knowledge that is born of discoveries.

    Above all, knowledge that lifts the darkness of ignorance, intolerance and inwardness.

    The revolution that was brought about by the printing press have yielded place to yet another revolution. The advent of new technology has provided us with new vehicles of knowledge dissemination. Ideas, images and impressions, instead of leaping out from the pages of a book, now leap out at you from computer screens. Today, instead of reading a book, you can hear an audio book.

    In fact, while audio books, at one level, take us back to our oral tradition, at another level, they have made it possible for those who, for a variety of reasons, can neither read nor write, to access knowledge. We are also witnessing a fast shift towards electronic journals which can be accessed by millions of people, courtesy the information superhighway. A book, therefore, no longer need exist in physical form or between covers.

    Will books, then become extinct? Will libraries disappear and leave us with formless digital volumes that will exist in the netherworld of cyber space? Will the turning of pages be replaced by the clicking of mouses?

    Similar apprehensions were experienced with the advent of television, when newspapers wondered whether they would soon cease to exist. But we have seen the power of the printed word which has survived the onslaught of the audio-visual image. I have no doubt that printed books will survive the cyber age.

    To ensure the survival, however, publishers have to play an important role. Books have to be made affordable, so that individual buyers are not constrained by the price line. I do understand that the cost of printing a book has increased over the years. I am happy that this is partly due to the fact that authors have begun to receive their fair share.

    One way of overcoming the problem of high prices is to strengthen the system of public libraries. I would urge people not to look forward to official patronage for setting up huge libraries that invariably become unwieldy and inaccessible to the masses. Residential colonies and communities should set up their own libraries . Not only will these be more accessible to the common people, especially children, but they will also foster a sense of community participation in making books available to all.

    This experiment has been tried successfully in West Bengal, where numerous community-run libraries exist, catering to all age groups. I also call upon schools to spend more on their libraries so that the habit of reading can be inculcated among children in their formative years.

    I would also like to urge Indian publishers to invest more in publishing books written in all India languages. There are fine authors who write in Indian languages and greater effort is called for to make their work available to readers from other regions.

    Simultaneously, efforts should be made to translate their work into English so that a larger number of people, both in India and abroad, have access to their books. Once again this is an area where publishers can, and should , play a significant role.

    I thank the organisers of the 14^th World Book Fair for this opportunity to share some of my thoughts with you. I wish publishers, authors and booksellers a successful gathering at this fair.

Thank you".

    The Mughal Gardens, will remain open to the public on the following days:

    The freight rate for transportation of magazine parcels, which was hiked with effect from 1.2.2000, has been re-examined by the Ministry of Railways and it has been decided to withhold the implementation of the revised freight rate for the present.

    The Union Urban Development Minister Shri Jagmohan today laid the foundation stone, in the DIZ Area, of a large park which was named as Karmayogi Park. This large park is being developed after clearing a huge junk yard and unauthorised constructions and illegal encroachments including Jhuggis.

    The park is surrounded by a number of residential blocks of Government servants and would go a long way in improving the quality of life of the residents belonging to low and middle income groups.

    Speaking on the occasion, Shri Jagmohan said that the park would not only provide the much needed facilities and civic amenities in the DIZ area but also remind every Government servant to act as a ‘Karmayogi’ both in regard to his colony’s work and that of his office.

    Shri Jagmohan said : " In the prevailing circumstances, no idea is more relevant in our public services than the ideal of ‘Karmayogi’. Only a Karmayogi can rise above the intrigues and manipulations that have become so characteristic of the present day set up if public servants make the ideal of Karmayogi, a part of their inspiration and earnestly try to approximate to it, their output and quality of service would undergo a great deal of improvement".

    Shri Jagmohan Said: " I believe that the best economy of the city is the care and culture of its people and it must be sensitive to the need for beauty, tranquillity and environmental benefits that are inherent in every green patch and park".

    "At the same time", Shri Jagmohan said, " It was necessary to formulate a comprehensive civic code and award strict punishment to those who uglify the city. Be it spitting on the road or throwing waste material all around or putting ‘cigarettes butt’ in the tree guards, the offended commit not only civic but national crime. Besides causing an atmosphere of general debasement and degradation, they lower the image of the country and create a poor impression on the tourists and other visitors."

    A large number of Residents Welfare Association Members were present on the occasion.

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    The Finance Minister Shri Yashwant Sinha today cautioned the nation against destabilising efforts from across the border through drug trafficking and counterfeiting of currency, stating that recent seizures have proved that most of the drugs caught had origins in Pakistan. Such activities are not only anti-India, but also anti-humanity, Shri Sinha said. He was addressing a seminar on the role of judicial process in the drive against smuggling and drug trafficking, here today.

    The Minister pointed out that globalisation and technological changes had resulted in coming together of criminals, terrorists and smugglers of the world. In this context, efforts have to be made to prevent any weakness from permeating into the law of the land, Shri Sinha said. "Besides punishing the law-breakers, it is also essential to forfeit their assets. The Prevention of Money Laundering Bill (PMLB) was introduced keeping all this in mind." Shri Sinha was confident that in the coming Budget Session of Parliament, the Bill would be passed after useful inputs from the Select Committee.

    Shri Sinha called upon the enforcement agencies to be aware of the latest development in law as interpreted by Judiciary. He solicited cooperation from the Judiciary to minimise delays in cases related to drug trafficking. While highlighting the important role that the Society in general and Families in particular could play to curb the menace of drugs, Shri Sinha said that decline in consumption will be a powerful disincentive for drug traffickers.

    Earlier, the Chief Justice of India, Dr. Justice A. S. Anand said that in spite of all the laws, drug business is booming. The courts for conviction are meager and overburdened. He observed that large-scale acquittals of offenders tried for offences under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act are eroding peoples' confidence in the effectiveness of criminal justice delivery system. He called upon investigating and prosecuting agencies together with the Legislature and the Judiciary to evolve a system for implementing programmes and laws which are in the interest of administration of criminal justice and serve a public purpose.

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    The union Minister of State for Finance, Shri Dhananjay Kumar today said that combined efforts should be made on social, legislative, enforcement and judicial fronts to effectively combat drug trafficking. He said that only Law and Enforcement can not prevent smuggling or drug trafficking. Shri Kumar was addressing the valedictory session of the seminar on 'The role of judicial process in the drive against smuggling and drug trafficking' here. He also said that social awareness needs to be generated on these issues and stress laid on traditional Indian values, morals and spiritual strength in the fight against this evil.

    The minister said that care should be taken to protect innocent persons while dispensing criminal justice. "Delay in trial can not only blunt the effectiveness of the entire prosecution mechanism but also cause miseries to the accused". He urged the enforcement agencies to be alert and responsive. The minister felt that inputs from leading public prosecutors, criminal lawyers could be considered while formulating legal measures to check this menace.

    In his address, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Vidya sagar Rao emphasised the need to create awareness among the public so that the slightest dubious activities of the criminals in this field are reported to the police immediately. He said, NGOs and the Press could play a major role in such awareness campaigns. Shri Rao also said that we should anticipate the need to amend the laws and modify procedures for effectively combating the economic and white-collar crimes.

    The Chief justice of India, Dr. A.S.Anand, inaugurated the seminar. Organised by the Central Revenue Department, judges from the Supreme Court, High Courts, Officials from the Narcotics control Bureau, Custom Department, Home Affairs, Enforcement Directorate, legal experts were among those who participated in this Seminar.