Puri: “Puri Reads, Puri Leads” (Puri Padhe, Puri Badhe in Odia) campaign has been launched here today to encourage reading habits in children.
The campaign started by the Puri district administration in partnership with UNICEF and Bakul Foundation will be carried out in the holy town of Puri till the end of January 2020 in order to amplify the existing efforts to create a buzz around reading and motivate children to read.
The initiative, a brainchild of Puri Collector Balwant Singh, is a part of Sneha Samparka initiative in response to the rebuilding measures in the district in the aftermath of devastating cyclone Fani that hit the pilgrim city in May this year.
As part of the campaign, a reading festival will be held by the district admin at scenic backdrop of the squeaky clean Niladri beach of Puri every Saturday from 3 PM to 5 PM, in which about 300 school children from class V to VIII will be participating.
The festival will include sessions on facilitated reading of books in which children will get to read books and interact about them.
Besides, motivational talks by eminent persons and writers will be organized on the impact that books and reading has had on the lives of children.
The children will also get an opportunity to interact with eminent authors in Odia, Hindi and English.
The campaign will also include storytelling by experts from around the country.
In order to popularize the campaign, the district admin is planning to put up posters and standees in the participating schools.
A reading tree will be set up in the schools in which the leaves will come on the tree as children fill the leaves with the titles of the books they have read and their names.
Apart from these, social media platforms will also be used for further promotion of the campaign with regular posts to create a buzz around reading and to promote reading.
School and Mass Education Secretary Chitra Arumugam, UNICEF Field Office Chief in Odisha Monika Nielsen, Odisha Film Development Corporation Chairman Satyabrata (Kuna) Tripathy, eminent sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik were present on the occasion of launch of the campaign today at the amphitheatre of the Hrudaya Park on the beach from Hotel Mayfair to Banki Muhana.