Ministers Shyam Rajak and Narendra Narayan Yadav inspect book fair preparations at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Friday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Around 100 publishers from across the country are here for a national book fair but no stall had come up on the inaugural day, Friday.

The Bharatiya Kshetriya Patrakar Sangh is organising the fair at Gandhi Maidan. But there were no stalls on the inaugural day because of delay in allocation of venue for the programme.

The organisers said they could not make proper arrangements, as they did not get the venue on time.

“We got the venue just 72 hours ago. Organising a national-level book fair is not an easy task. It requires a lot of planning. So, we could not get stalls arranged in this little time span. But when people land tomorrow, they will find all stalls ready. We would urge the state government to provide us the venue a little early next time we organise a fair,” said Chandrabhushan, one of the organisers.

Revenue and land reforms minister Narendra Narayan Yadav and food and consumer protection minister Shyam Rajak jointly inaugurated the 13-day fair today. Magahi Mahakavya Ka Saundarya Shastriya Anushilan and Bharatiya Mul Vansh Ka Itihas, two books authored by Kumar Indradev, were released on the occasion.

The food and consumer protection minister hailed the organisers. “Such a fair should be organised in the state capital on a regular basis. Book lovers get books of their favourite authors, which they don’t ordinarily find at city stores, at such fairs,” Rajak said. He assured the organisers he would see to it that next time the organisers get the venue (Gandhi Maidan) on time.

“National Book Trust and Bihar Hindi Granth Academy are among the participating publishers. Some new publishers and authors have also been given a chance to participate in this fair. Cultural events in which school children will perform would also be organised,” said Chandrabhushan.

“We have been organising book fairs since 1999. Our aim is to promote new publishers and authors. So if a publisher does not have money to put up a stall, we provide them space. Our association, comprising of around 400 journalists, mainly works for providing them medical insurance and accommodation,” Chandrabhushan said.