‘Sundargarh Bahi Padha’ to Encourage Book Reading among Students and People

Rourkela: Various programmes are being undertaken to create interest for book reading among students, youth and people of Sundargarh. Taking a step ahead in this direction, the district administration has resumed the ‘Sundargarh Bahi Padha’ Abhijan in the post pandemic time.

Under the initiative, along with book reading, various creative activities were organized at the residential office of the Collector Sundargarh to engage children of various age groups The event which was being held every Sunday in pre pandemic is resumed now.

On Tuesday, a special programme was held at Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) Library as a part of the Sundargarh Bahi Padha campaign. Students and teachers from various schools of the city participated in the same.

Collector Sundargarh Nikhil Pavan Kalyan and ADM cum Commissioner RMC Dr Subhankar Mohapatra joined the event and encouraged the students to read books. The Collector sought the feedback of the participants on how to take the Bahi Padha abhijan forward making it more beneficial for the people of Sundargarh.

Former Reader of Odia Department, Municipal College Rourkela, Girija Goswami, Raj Kumar Mohanty, Teacher at Municipal High School Panposh, and Bibhuti Bhusan Das, a writer of repute, attended the event and inspired the students to broaden their perspective and improve knowledge by reading books.

The participant students and teachers picked up various books of their choice and enjoyed reading them at the reading rooms of RMC Library. DIPRO Rourkela Seema Fatima Ekka, and RMC PMU Expert Prasanta Kumar Nayak joined the event at Rourkela.

Similarly, under the campaign, various activities were organized at the District Library, Zilla Sanskruti Bhawan in Sundargarh. Various Folk performances were showcased by local artists to generate interest of book reading.

The traditional Folk dance of Sundargarh like Jhumer, Khadia and Pala were a part of the programme. ADM Sundargarh cum CEO DMF Maheswar Chandra Nayak, DEO Amulya Kumar Pradhan, DIPRO Sundargarh Nandini Mundari and District Culture Officer Kuldeep Xaxa were present on the occasion.

Under ‘Sundargarh Bahi Padha’, public libraries have been set up in different parts of the district to ignite the interest of book reading. Apart from the District Library at Sundargarh, another library has been set up at Information and Public Relations Dept. The library has various books to cater to different age groups.

Recently, a sub divisional library has been opened in Bonai while Rural Libraries have been set up at block headquarter of Lephripara and at Kamlaga in Hemgir block. The rural libraries are aimed to attract the rural students, educated youth and local public.

The district administration has taken renewed steps to encourage reading at various colleges and public places. Along with the reading room, the libraries have been provisioned with drinking water and toilet facilities.

Modern libraries, e-Library and ICT Labs are being established at the Govt High Schools as part of High School Transformation Programme under 5T. The modern library and e-library are being especially helpful in enhancing the knowledge of High School students.