– Mita Mukherjee
As many as 19 books penned by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be included in the collection of books in libraries of government-aided schools in the state.
The state school education department has recently sent a list of over 500 books to the state-aided schools including 19 authored by the chief minister which are to be kept in the school libraries.
Some of the books authored by Banerjee that are to be kept in the school libraries include “Pallabi”, “Ma”, “Upaladhi”, “Chalo Jai,” “Pather Sathi”, “Crocodile Island”.
Several renowned authors too feature on the list including Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Swami Vivekananda and Sunil Gangopadhyay.
The state government has allotted Rs one lakh each for the schools to purchase the books. A total amount of Rs 20 crore has been sanctioned for 2024-25 at the rate of Rs one lakh per school, an official said. Five sets of books have been recommended for the schools. Each set contains at least one book of the chief minister.
A notice issued by the school education department said, “On behalf of the publishing trade, Publishers and Booksellers Guild will facilitate and coordinate between the district inspectors of schools and publishers for providing books to the concerned schools.”
Heads of several schools said the government had sent list of books for utilising the library grant given to the schools even in the previous years. But this is the first time the list contains books of Mamata Banerjee.
The school education department official said the schools can select the books according to their choice. “The instructions do not specifically mention that it is compulsory to purchase the 19 books authored by the chief minister. But it is implied each and every school will have to purchase her books,” the headmaster of a school in the southern fringes of Kolkata said.
Another head said the schools should be given the liberty to choose the books they would want to keep in their libraries.
However, many schools said the grant was supposed to be released before March this year but they have not received the funds yet.