Does NBT now stand for ‘Narendra’ Ebook Belief?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi loomed giant over the World Ebook Truthful at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan final month (1–9 February 2025). He was in all places—at selfie factors with cutouts of his picture, within the pavilions and, after all, on ebook covers.
The venue was coated with hoardings of the prime minister’s knowledge. Greater than half of the NBT (Nationwide Ebook Belief) stall had been taken over by Pariksha Pe Charcha and Examination Warriors, two of the a number of books authored by the PM, revealed by NBT and translated in 14 Indian languages.
The theme of this yr’s honest was ‘Republic@75’, the journey because the Structure of India got here into impact on 26 January 1950. Conspicuously lacking from the honest was the primary prime minister and one of many architects of the Structure, Jawaharlal Nehru.
A couple of senior residents might have frowned and whispered their disapproval, however most guests didn’t seem to note or care concerning the clearly deliberate omission. If books authored by Jawaharlal Nehru had been in any respect on show, they had been properly hidden. This author failed to identify one.
Over the previous 12 months, NBT has revealed a number of different books by or about Prime Minister Modi. Titles like Influence of Mann Ki Baat, Collective Goodness and lots of the 30-odd books ‘authored’ by Modi had been on show. They ranged from Work Ethics; A Journey (a set of poems), India’s Singapore Story, Swatantrata Senani Narendra Modi, Loktantra Ke Prahari, and Purusharth Ke Mandir: Narendra Modi’s Quest for Nationwide Progress to books on M.S. Golwalkar.
This previous one yr additionally noticed the NBT publish three books authored by Yuvraj Malik, the Belief’s director. All three books—Khel Bhavna Me Vijeta, Bharat Bhagya Vidhata and Chandrayaan—revealed in each English and Hindi had been additionally on show. The ‘parivarvaad’ didn’t cease on the director. NBT revealed a ebook authored by the director’s spouse as properly, who established her devotional credentials by authoring a ebook on Khatu Shyam.
Like her husband, who’s described as a “voracious reader” on the NBT web site, his spouse, Deepali Vashishtha, describes herself as an “writer and director” of BLF (Bharat LitFest). The web site bharatlitfest.com seems to be a piece in progress though the session at this yr’s honest is described because the ‘third season’.
Literary circles in New Delhi have been agog with tales of how publishers had been arm-twisted to shift their pre-determined occasions as a part of the BLF. A ebook of poems written by a star singer, which was to be launched by a significant writer, needed to be shifted to the BLF following an “ultimatum” mentioned to have been delivered by the NBT.
Malik was appointed director when Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, a former Uttarakhand chief minister and a self-styled poet and writer, was the Union HRD minister. Malik, an ex-armyman, has been on this publish for over 5 years, allegedly in violation of the DoPT (Division of Personnel and Coaching, which comes underneath the PMO) guidelines. Not surprisingly, subsequently, NBT has thus far revealed no less than eight books authored by the previous HRD minister.
It’s revealing to breed Malik’s profile from the NBT web site itself. ‘Shri Yuvraj Malik joined Nationwide Ebook Belief on deputation from the Indian Military. […] Because the Director of Nationwide Ebook Belief, Shri Malik has ensured publication of bilingual books for varsity kids in compliance to the NEP 2020 inside 30 days of the launch of the coverage by the federal government. Underneath Shri Malik’s steering, Nationwide Ebook Belief has been working with renewed efforts in the direction of encouraging kids to take up studying as a behavior…Shri Malik is a voracious reader and is passionate concerning the world of books and education-related points.’
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