Patna: The 24th Patna Book Fair is proving to be a disappointment for publishers, stall-owners, and booklovers alike. Neither are the cash registers ringing, nor are the visitors finding the right books.
Organised jointly by the art, culture and youth department and Centre for Readership Development (CRD) at Gyan Bhavan, within the premises of Samrat Ashok Convention Centre near Gandhi Maidan, the fair is now failing to even attract crowds. It was inaugurated on December 2 and will be on till December 11.
The book fair was earlier being organised on the Gandhi Maidan and attracted thousands of visitors. "Our profits have declined by 40 to 60 per cent compared to last year," said Vinod Tiwari, a bookstall owner participating in the fair for the past 16 years. "When it used to be held at Gandhi Maidan, a large number of people would come to check out books, but this year the crowd is very thin."
Rakesh Gupta, manager of another stall selling educational and story CDs, said: "Last year, we easily sold products worth Rs 12,000-14,000 a day, but sales have now dwindled to Rs 8,000-9,000 daily."
According to stall owners, the reason for fewer footfalls this year is the new location. A large number of people are not aware of the fair, they said. The visitors who are making it to the fare are rummaging through a large number of educational books, as there are more stalls selling educational books than fiction. "I am preparing for banking and allied services exams and visited the book fair to get firsthand information about available books," said Rashmi Arya. "I could have bought books from bookstores on Ashok Rajpath near Patna University, but they all mostly keep the same set of books."
Over 150 stalls representing 112 publishers have set up shop at the fair. Over 15,000 people have visited the fair so far while around 13,500 tickets have been sold. CRD officials acknowledged low turnout. "One of the reasons is small and enclosed space of the fair," said Kumar Pankajesh, a public relations official at the book fair. "We have decided to look for solutions and will also make more efforts to publicise the event." With just 3-4 more days left, booksellers and administrators are keeping their fingers crossed.
