WB Govt will consider 'Boi Sarani' proposal in College Sq: Min

West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee today said the state government will consider the proposal of having a 'Boi Sarani' (book street) in the College Square area.

"Today eminent Bengali writer Sanjib Chattopadhyay has made a proposal that if any road surrounding College Square area can be named as Boi Sarani. I urge the Publishers and Booksellers Guild to submit the proposal to Kolkata Municipal Corporation and also to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," Chatterjee said said while inaugurating the 'Nababarsha Boi Utsab 2017' organised by Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the apex body of publishers and book shop owners in the state.
 

"We will then discuss the proposal among ourselves," the minister told PTI on the sidelines of the programme.

The road adjacent to College Square is called College Street, which is also known as the book hub of Kolkata.

Earlier, unveiling a book written by the Chief Minister titled 'Mojar Chhora' (book of limericks), Chatterjee said "The state government is working towards fostering reading habit among people, which is sadly on the decline."

"We are not devoting as much time to books as to TV serials and mobiles," the minister said adding, "We are trying to make the libraries all over the state more vibrant."

"But, everything will be futile if a reader doesn't frequent the library, a citadel of learning, and the government is trying to inculcate reading habit among readers since childhood," he said.

Eminent writers Nabanita Deb Sen and Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay, who were present on the occasion, said it is in the fitness of things that the 4th 'Nababarsho Boi Utsab' is taking place in College Square, the hub of Bengali literary tradition.

Guild general secretary Tridib Chatterjee said "College Square, surrounded by heritage buildings associated with learning and the memory of Vidyasagar, Rammohan Roy and Swami Vivekananda, can be the ideal place for a book carnival on the occasion of Bangla Nababarsho (Bengali New Year)."

The 4th edition of the fair, which could not be held last year as the dates clashed with state Assembly elections, has 74 stalls, including one from Bangladesh, and will continue till April 19.