Cuttack, Dec. 28: The National Book Trust (NBT) opened a promotion centre at Byasakabi Bhavan near Town Hall with an aim to inculcate reading habits in youths.

This is the book trust's seventh unit in the country after Guwahati, Patna, Agartala, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi.

Eminent Odia litterateur Sitakanta Mohapatra, who inaugurated the book promotion centre-cum-book shop on Friday, said parents must take initiative to promote the reading habit among children. 'The only way one can acquire knowledge is by reading various kinds of books,' said Mohapatra.

'The book promotion centre, launched to encourage reading habits, is part of the centre's 12th plan,' said the book trust's director M.A. Sikander. The idea behind the initiative was to take books to the people. 'Our aim is to sensitise youths to read more books,' he said.

Utkal Sahitya Samaj president Bijayananda Singh said the National Book Trust had invested close to Rs 15 lakh on the centre, where books will be available at 10 per cent discount. 'Apart from selling books of the National Book Trust, central government and other publishers, the unit will also organise literary meets,' Singh said.

'Another aspect of the book promotion centre's programme is the mobile exhibition van that will go to the rural areas for the convenience of book lovers. The book trust plans to cover all the 30 districts through mobile exhibitions,' the Utkal Sahitya Samaj said.

The National Book Trust is an apex body established by the central government to promote the habit of book reading among the public in 1957.

Bhaktakabi Madhusudan Rao, who wrote the first Odia primer Barnabodha established the Alochana Sabha in Cuttack in 1890. Later, this institution was changed to the Utkal Sahitya Samaj. This institution bears his honour and exists till date as the oldest literary institution of the state at Byasakabi Bhavan near the Town Hall.