Writers’ appeal — pass Library Act

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 26

Managing director of Punjabi Writers’ Co-operative Society Charanjit Singh Gumtala wrote to Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Kultar Singh Sandhwan, and Sunam MLA Aman Arora urging them to pass the Library Act in the current Assembly session.

The governments has opened liquor vends, but no libraries, which shows that they do not know that books are a source of knowledge and that there is a library in the primary school and there is a library period in every school in the United States and Canada. Every student brings a new book every week and returns the previous book. The AAP government is a very educated. Therefore, it should enact the Library Act on a priority. —Charanjit Singh Gumtala, MD, Punjabi Writers' Co-operative Society

Punjab is the only state in the country that has not enacted this law. Even the neighbouring state of Haryana passed such a law in 1983, 39 years ago. It was drafted in Punjab in 2012 by then Education Minister Seva Singh Sekhwan and he had said that the Punjab Government would issue an ordinance in this regard.

“The governments has opened liquor vends, but no libraries, which shows that they do not know that books are a source of knowledge and that there is a library in the primary school and there is a library period in every school in the United States and Canada. Every student brings a new book every week and returns the previous book,” Gumtala said.

“The Aam Aadmi Party government is a very educated government. Therefore, this government should enact the Library Act on a priority,” he said.

According to Gumtala, in a letter to the Chief Minister, the DPI (Colleges) had sent a reply on July 6, 2018, that the draft of Shabad Prakash Punjabi Library and Information Services Bill 2011 had been prepared by a committee constituted by the government. Therefore, the matter is under consideration by the government. The office-bearers of Punjabi Writers’ Co-operative Society have also written to MLA South Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, Education and Language Minister Gurmeet Singh in this regard.

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