National Book Trust (NBT) is an Indian publishing house, which was founded in 1957 as an autonomous body under the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
of the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
. The activities of the Trust include publishing, promotion of books and reading, promotion of Indian books abroad, assistance to authors and publishers, and promotion of children's literature. NBT publishes reading material in several
Indian languages for all age-groups, including books for children and Neo-literates. They publish a monthly
Newsletter
A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of int ...
about recent publications.
Objective
The National Book Trust (NBT), India is an apex body established by the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
(
Department of Higher Education,
Ministry of Human Resource Development
The Ministry of Education ( MoE; formerly the Ministry of Human Resource Development from 1985 to 2020) is a ministry of the Government of India, responsible for the implementation of the National Policy on Education. The Ministry is further di ...
) in the year 1957. India's first
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India du ...
envisioned that NBT would be a bureaucracy-free structure that would publish low-cost books. The objectives of the NBT are to produce and encourage the production of good literature in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
and other
Indian languages and to make such literature available at moderate prices to the public and to bring out book catalogues, arrange book fairs/exhibitions and seminars and take all necessary steps to make the people book minded.
Major initiatives
To widen readership base across the country, various programmes have been recently initiated by National Book Trust, India. Some of the new outreach programmes are detailed below:
Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan
Under this initiative, age-group wise books of the Trust have been provided to school children in more than 50 Indian languages including tribal languages. The highlights of the programme are: around 1.5 lakh schools covered; 2 crore books of different genres printed; 16 States and Union Territories covered; 25,000 Readers’ Clubs established; 200+ Braille books in 5 languages; and 300+ illustrated books, chapter books, tactile, silent, e-books etc.
Guest of Honor presentations
India was the Guest of Honor Country at
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair
The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is an annual Trade fair, book fair held in Abu Dhabi. It provides a platform where publishing, publishers, bookselling, booksellers, literary agents, agents, cultural organisations and journalism, press can m ...
(24-30 April 2019) and at the
Guadalajara Book Fair
The Guadalajara International Book Fair, better known as the FIL (from its Spanish name: Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara) is the largest book fair in the Americas, and second-largest book fair in the world after Frankfurt's. It is als ...
(30 Nov-8 Dec 2019). National Book Trust, India was designated by the
Ministry of HRD,
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
as the nodal agency to coordinate the Guest Country Presentations at the international book fairs. A 100+ strong delegation composed of authors, science communicators, children writers, storytellers, artists, publishing professionals participated in each of the two Guest Country Presentations.
Promotion of books and reading
NBT plays an important role in promoting books and the habit of reading by organizing book fairs and exhibitions throughout the country. As the nodal body for the promotion of books both in India and abroad, NBT:
*Organizes book fairs/exhibitions throughout the country at various levels. It also organizes the prestigious annual
New Delhi World Book Fairs at New Delhi.
*Participates in major international book fairs annually and showcases books from India.
*Makes books available at the doorsteps of the people through mobile exhibitions and on-line sales through its website.
*Has enrolled more than 72,000 Book Club Members throughout the country.
*Provides financial assistance to authors and publishers.
*Organizes seminars and workshops.
*Organizes special book fairs and literary programmes in the north-east to promote books and book reading in the region.
*The Trust also publishes monthly ‘
Newsletter
A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of int ...
’ in English and also brings out yearly calendar.
Mobile book exhibitions
The NBT also operates on innovative scheme of exhibition of books through mobile vans, ‘Pustak Parikramas’ across the country to make books accessible to the public at large in remote, rural and difficult areas. Since its launch in 1992, about 15,000 such exhibitions have been organized across all the states in the country including
north-eastern states.
New Delhi World Book Fair
The NBT organizes the prestigious annual
New Delhi World Book Fair
The New Delhi World Book Fair, hosted at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, is India's second oldest book fair after the Kolkata Book Fair. The first New Delhi World Book Fair was held from March 18 to April 4, 1972 in roughly 6790 m2 area with 20 ...
, which is the largest book event in the Afro-Asian region. Over the last four decades the New Delhi World Book Fair has earned itself a high reputation among international publishers. The 28th NDWBF was held from 4 to 12 January 2020 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. To mark the 150th Birth Anniversary of
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, the theme of NDWBF is ‘Gandhi: The Writers’ Writer’. In 2018, European Union and in 2019 Sharjah was the Guest of Honor Country at NDWBF.
National readership survey
The NBT conducted a National Action Plan for Readership Development Among the Youth (NAPRDY) with a vision to make all youth in the age-group of 15-25 an active reader by the year 2025. The first major step under the NAPRDY has been the undertaking of the first ever National Youth Readership Survey among rural and urban youth across the country, which was undertaken by the
National Council of Applied Economic Research
National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) is India’s oldest and largest independent, non-profit, economic policy research think tank. Established in New Delhi in 1956, it acquired considerable national and international standing wi ...
(NCAER), to assess the readership patterns as well as the reading needs of the youth. The Survey has since been published as a Report by the NBT.
The follow-up study in the form of a second Report on the Youth of North-East India: Demographics and Readership, giving an analytical and detailed account of the reading habits of the literate youth in the
north-eastern states and their exposure to different forms of media, was also published by the NBT.
Promotion of Indian books abroad
As the nodal agency for the promotion of books overseas, the NBT participates in various international book fairs and puts up exhibitions to display select titles brought out by various Indian publishers. Since 1970, NBT has participated in various international book fairs including
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
,
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
,
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Seoul,
Sharjah
Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area.
Sharjah is the capital o ...
, Beijing,
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
, Tokyo, Bangkok, Minsk, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Warsaw, Nigeria, Kathmandu, Manila,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
,
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
,
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
,
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
and Jakarta. India’s Guest of Honor Presentations at Frankfurt (2006), Moscow (2009), Beijing (2010), Seoul (2013), Singapore (2014), Abu Dhabi (2019) and
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
, Mexico (2019) were organized by NBT. As part of the presentations, the NBT coordinated many literary programmes, including seminars, discussions, reading sessions, and authors’ presentations. In addition, a special exhibit of books from India was also put up.
Promotion of children's literature
NBT's children's books are known for their illustrations, by illustrators such as
Pulak Biswas,
Jagdish Joshi, Mrinal Mitra, Subir Roy,
Atanu Roy,
Manjula Padmanabhan
Manjula Padmanabhan (born 23 June 1953) is an Indian playwright, journalist, comic strip artist, and children's book author. Her works explore science, technology, gender, and international inequalities.
Life
Padmanabhan was born in Delhi in ...
,
Mickey Patel and
Suddhasattwa Basu
Suddhasattwa Basu (born 1956) is an Indian author, painter, illustrator, and animator. Born in West Bengal, he spent his childhood in a small town named Chandannagar, West Bengal. Basu studied fine arts at the Government College of Art & Craft ...
. Painters
Jatin Das
Jatindra Nath Das ( bn, যতীন্দ্রনাথ দাস; 27 October 1904 – 13 September 1929), better known as Jatin Das, was an Indian independence activist and revolutionary who worked to make India independent from the Bri ...
and
Krishen Khanna
Krishen Khanna (born 5 July 1925) is an Indian artist. He attended Imperial Service College in England and is a self-taught artist. He is recipient of the Rockefeller Fellowship in 1962, the Padma Shri in 1990, and the Padma Bhushan in 2011.
Ea ...
have also illustrated books for the Trust.
In 1993 NBT established the National Center for Children’s Literature (NCCL) to monitor, coordinate, plan and aid the publication of
children’s literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
in various Indian languages. The NCCL is engaged in organizing workshops, exhibitions and promoting the habit of reading at the school level by encouraging the setting up of Readers’ Clubs. Till date over 33,000 (approx.) Readers’ Clubs have been established across various schools in the country. The Center is mandated to conduct surveys and research work related
to children’s literature. It also publishes a quarterly bilingual magazine ‘Reader’s Club Bulletin’ for children. The NCCL’s library-cum-documentation center for children’s literature at New Delhi is now connected with the library network across the country and members can access the books online. This library is open for general public and researchers.
Assistance to authors and publishers
To promote the publication of reasonably priced books for higher education, NBT gives financial assistance to authors and publishers of textbooks and reference material. Under this scheme for the subsidized publication of books, only such books are subsidized for which a definite need is felt and which relate to subject areas where books of an acceptable standard are either not available or are so expensive as to be beyond the means of the students. So far, NBT has subsidized the publication of more than a thousand titles, mostly in English. The scope of the scheme has been widened to provide assistance for such publications in Indian languages.
National Book Week
Launched in the year 1982 the National Book Week is an initiative of the NBT to promote books and the habit of reading in the country. During the National Book Week, held from 14 to 20 November every year, the NBT organizes a number of book promotional activities and literary programmes throughout the country, like book exhibitions, seminars, discussions, meet-the-author programmes, workshops and other literary events.
Grant-in-aid scheme
NBT has been mandated by the Government of India to administer a Financial Assistance scheme for voluntary and literary bodies.
The Financial Assistance is given on ad-hoc basis for organizing book promotional activities. Up to 75 per cent of approved expenditure for any or more purposes namely:
#To organize seminars of Indian Authors/ Publishers/ Booksellers on subjects which have direct bearing on Book Promotion in India.
#To organize Training Course on a subject directly related to Book Promotion.
#To organize Annual Conventions / Conferences of Writers/ Publishers/Booksellers.
#Any other activity which may be found to be conducive to the development of Book Industry etc is provided.
NBT Book Club
The Trust also has a scheme of NBT Book Club. The members of this Club can avail a special discount on purchase of NBT books and also a discount on postal charges on the receipt of books through VPP. The life membership fee for the Club is only Rs. 100/- for individuals and Rs. 500/- for institutions. Now book lovers and institutions can enroll themselves online through NBT ReadersBook Club.
Training course in book publishing
To create a pool of trained professionals for the publishing industry, NBT conducts a month-long Training Course in Book Publishing in Delhi. Besides, NBT organizes short-term training courses in publishing in other parts of the country. In addition, NBT has now collaborated with select universities to offer one year post-graduate diploma in publishing studies. With this course NBT has been able to create more skilled human resource for publishing industry. Besides special publishing courses are also held in languages across India.
E-books
The NBT is into e-publishing, with more than 100 of its titles available in the e-format (
EPUB
EPUB is an e-book file format that uses the ".epub" file extension. The term is short for ''electronic publication'' and is sometimes styled ''ePub''. EPUB is supported by many e-readers, and compatible software is available for most smartphones ...
3.0), mainly intended to cater to the demands of Indian Diaspora and tech-savvy youth. The e-books are available in English, Hindi as well as in other Indian languages and can be accessed through Android enabled devices such as mobiles, tables, etc.
Promotion of books at Delhi Metro Station
The NBT, India and the
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) is a centre-state joint venture that operates the Delhi Metro. The DMRC is also involved in the planning and implementation of metro rail, monorail, and high-speed rail projects in India and abroad. T ...
(DMRC) entered into an MoU to open select NBT bookshops at major metro stations. These bookshops will attract thousands of students and other commuters who travel by the Metro daily. Two such bookshops have been opened at the
Kashmere Gate and
Vishwavidyalaya Metro Stations. DMRC will also identify and allot space at prominent Metro Stations to publicize the various book promotional activities of NBT. The effort is part of NBT’s initiative to collaborate with similar organizations to promote books and reading in the country.
Promotion of Indian books in foreign languages
To promote Indian writings abroad, NBT has initiated a ‘Financial Assistance Programme’ where NBT provides suitable incentive to foreign publishers in the form of financial assistance for translation of original Indian writings published by Indian publishers in English, Hindi and other Indian languages into foreign languages. The programme covers broad categories of fiction, non-fiction, science & technology, and books for children, except dictionaries, magazines, journals, textbooks for schools/ colleges and professional courses like medicine, pure & applied sciences, engineering, business administration, etc.
Pustak Sanskriti
National Book Trust, India is bringing out a quarterly magazine in Hindi titled ''Pustak Sanskriti''. The magazine aims to not only update readers about the current literary and publishing events being organized across the country but to connect readers of all age groups especially youth with the rich tradition of Indian writings. Besides the activities of the Trust, the magazine also carries unpublished, original writings (short story, essays, poems, travelogues, etc.) of emerging new writers, book reviews, etc.
Scheme for promotion of young women writers
National Book Trust, India has introduced a new scheme to encourage young women writers ‘Mahila Lekhan Protsahan Yojana’. As per the scheme, the Trust has invited proposals from young women writers below 40 years from across the country writing in any of the
22 Indian languages recognized by the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
and in English. The manuscript submitted should be the writer’s first, original and unpublished. The genres may include novel, travelogue, memoirs, diary, short stories, plays and satire. The manuscripts selected by the jury will be published by NBT.
Shodh Yatri Programme
The Shodh Yatri Programme is a unique programme initiated to encourage students to do research on India’s contributions and influences as well as areas of contacts between India and other countries in the neighborhood. In the process, the research findings will also trace the Indian roots in the evolution of their culture and heritage. In pursuing this programme the
Ministry of Human Resource Development
The Ministry of Education ( MoE; formerly the Ministry of Human Resource Development from 1985 to 2020) is a ministry of the Government of India, responsible for the implementation of the National Policy on Education. The Ministry is further di ...
in association with
Indian Council of Historical Research
The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is a captive body of the Ministry of Education, Government of India established by an Administrative Order. The body has provided financial assistance to historians and scholars through fellowshi ...
, Central Board of Secondary Education and National Book Trust, India organized an all India Online Contest to select students who could be part of the Programme. The contest was open to students of classes X and XI, across all Boards of School Education and schools in the country. The contest included writing an essay on the theme at the
MyGov.in
MyGov (Hindi ''Merī Sarkār'') is a citizen engagement platform launched by the Government of India on 26 July 2014 to promote the active participation of Indian citizens in their country's governance and development. It is aimed at creating ...
website. Forty students (20 boys and 20 girls) were shortlisted for the interview which was conducted through Skype, in which ten students were selected as winners. A felicitation ceremony for the winners of the online Shodh Yatri contest was held at the New Delhi World Book Fair 2017. The winners were felicitated with a certificate, wooden replica of Ashoka Stambh, and Rs. 10,000/-.
India-China translation programme
In a significant initiative in cultural diplomacy, the Government of India and the
Government of People’s Republic of China have put forward an ambitious translation programme that includes translation of select 25 classical and contemporary literary works from
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
into Hindi and Indian literary works into Chinese. To give effect to this initiative a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the
Ministry of External Affairs,
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
and the
of the
People’s Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
on Cooperation in Mutual Translation and Publication of classic and contemporary works. It was signed during the visit of
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
Li Keqiang
Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affai ...
to India.
The project of taking forward the programme was given to National Book Trust, India. To implement this project the External Publicity and Public Diplomacy Division of Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and the National Book Trust, India signed an MoU, to translate the 25 Chinese works into Hindi. In the first phase of translation books titled ''
Analects of Confucius
The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings a ...
'', ''
Camel Xiangzi'', ''Looks Beautiful'' and ''Selected Works of
Bing Xin
Xie Wanying (; October 5, 1900 – February 28, 1999), better known by her pen name Bing Xin () or Xie Bingxin, was one of the most prolific Chinese women writers of the 20th century. Many of her works were written for young readers. She ...
'' have been published.
550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev
The year 2019 marked 550th birth anniversary of
Guru Nanak Dev
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...
, the first
Sikh Guru
The Sikh gurus ( Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ) are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established this religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the found ...
and founder of
Sikhism
Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...
. As part of the year-long celebrations, NBT India published four books on the teachings and philosophy of Guru Nanak Dev, viz. ''Guru Nanak Vani'' by
Bhai Jodh Singh; ''Nanak Vani'' by Manjeet Singh; ''Baramah'' by renowned artist Siddharth, a coffee table book based on the poetic composition of Guru Nanak Dev; and ''Sakhian'' by Jagtaarjeet and illustrated by Gurdeep Singh. These books will be published in different
Indian languages including
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
,
Punjabi,
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
,
Sindhi,
Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to:
* People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir
* Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley
* Kashmiri language, their language
People with the name
* Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...
,
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Book publishing companies of India
Executive branch of the government of India
Publishing companies established in 1957
Government agencies established in 1957
1957 establishments in Delhi
Ministry of Education (India)