BOOK PROMOTION
8.01. Following the two resolutions, mentioned in the earlier chapter, namely, the 1968 Parliament Resolution on Indian Languages and the Government of India Resolution on the National Policy on Education (1968), large-scale programmes of book development and book promotion at every level of education and for a varied category of readers have been taken up by way particularly of translating the resolutions into practice. Mention about school textbooks and literature for children has been made in the chapter on school education. The present chapter deals with all other programmes including those relating to the massive production of university-level books in Hindi and other Indian languages and English, so badly needed is higher education in our present context of development and in accordance with the national decision to progressively adopt Indian languages as media of education at this stage also. To disseminate information about the programmes undertaken in this behalf, two pamphlets, namely, 'University-Level Books in Indian Languages: Progress of Production Programmes and 'Milestones in Book Promotion' were brought out by the Ministry respectively in January and February, 1971.
A:UNIVERSITY-LEVEL BOOKS IN INDIAN LANGUAGES 8.02. Production of University-Level Books in Indian Languages: Initiated in 1968-69, the scheme envisages a central grant up to Rs. 1 crore spread over a period of six years to all states except the union territories and the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland for production of books in regional languages at the first degree level to facilitate the early adoption of regional languages as media of instruction in as many disciplines as possible. The original pattern of assistance was
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on a matching basis with the State Government concerned sharing 25 per cent of the expenditure. From 1969-70, the Central grant was changed to 100 per cent. For the implementation of the programme, a set of guidelines was formulated by the Ministry and sent to the states. While grants are provided to the State Governments for implementing the production programmes, special bodies, either autonomous or departmental, have been set up in all the 15 states. The scheme provides for the translation and writing of books, adaptation and adoption of terminology and the training and reorientation of teachers. The guidelines also provide that a revolving fund should be constituted by each of the State Governments from the sale proceeds of the books which should be sold on a no-profit-no-loss basis or at a marginal profit only.
8.03. For the successful implementation of such an extensive programme, co-ordination is of basic importance. While a special co- ordination machinery has been set up for the programmes of the five Hindi-speaking states (an account of which is given later), to review the working of the programmes in other states, Zonal Conferences of Education Ministers and Vice-Chancellors of participating States are organized. During the year, two such conferences, one for the eastern and the other for the western zone, were respectively held on August 8 and September 21, 1970 at Calcutta and Bombay under the chairmanship of the Union Education Minister. Further, a national level Co-ordin- ation Committee has been set up comprising the Union Education Minister as chairman, and Member (Education) of Planning Commission, Chairman of the UGC and the Director-General of the CSIR as members.
8.04. Grants so far released to the State Governments, under the scheme are:
1968-69: Rs. 33,47,828.
1969-70: Rs. 59,84,000.
1970-71: Rs. 71,00,000.
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8.05. Under the scheme 3,191 titles have been taken up, comprising 1,418 for translation and 1,773 for original writing in the major Indian languages including Hindi. Out of them, 272 titles have been brought out so far. The progress of book production programmes, as per information available, is as below:
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8.06, Coordination of University-Level Book-Production Programmes of Hindi-Speaking States: To coordinate the programmes of five Hindi- speaking states, avoiding all possible duplication and to maximise efforts towards gaining mutually common advantage, a conference of representatives of Hindi-speaking states for production of university- level books in Hindi has been set up. Presided over by the Union Education Minister and comprising all the Education Ministers, Vice- Chancellors, etc., of the concerned states as members, the functions of the Conference are to review generally the progress of production programmes and to advise the Governments concerned on all matters. There is a Co-ordination Committee of the Conference, besides a Core Committee to look after all matters of detail including approving topics for original writing, distribution of books for translation among the states and to advise on the tasks to be carried out by the central agency, namely, the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT), which also provides the secretariat of all the three bodies.
8.07. A Hindi Granth Akademi has been established as the implementing machinery in each of the five Hindi-Speaking states, viz., Bihar, U.P., M.P., Rajasthan and Haryana. Central subject panels have been constituted to give technical advice to the Hindi Granth Akademis with regard to selecting titles. The present number of panels is 62. The panels in different university subjects have prepared 3 types of lists: available Hindi books which were considered suitable for use in the universities; books which were recommended for translation; and the books which, the panels thought, should be originally written. The recommendations of the subject panels are made available to these states, requesting them to select the titles which they would like to undertake for translation/writing. After their preferences have been obtained, the Core Committee distributes the titles to the states. So far 3722 titles have been recommended by the subject panels out of which 2423 (1536 for translation and 887 for original writing) have been allotted by the Core Committee to the 5 Akademis. 86 manuscripts which were prepared under the auspices of the CSTT have also been handed over to these Akademis for publication. Care is being
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taken to ensure that books are written keeping in view the syllabus of not one university but the syllabi of a number of universities. It is expected that all translated or original books published under the programme would be prescribed by almost all the universities in the Hindi region. At the time of determining the print run of the books, the concerned Akademi would consult the other Hindi Granth Akademis about the saleability of the books in others states during the course of 4-5 years. In other respects also, coordinated steps have been taken. For example, the Vice-Chancellors of these states have generally decided that by July, 1973, Hindi should be the medium of instruction in all universities in the states. Similarly, uniformly liberal rates of remuneration for original writing/translations uni- form pricing policy and uniform commission rates to the book trade have been adopted.
8.08 The Coordination Committee has decided that the work of obtaining translation rights, production of books in medicine, agriculture and engineering and preparation of encyclopaedias and reference books, preparation of the core book at the national level, the work of looking after the Hindi Book Production Directorates at the Delhi and B.H. Universities, central sale and publicity and preparation of readings would be done by the central agency, i.e., the CSTT. The Committee has further decided that 2 journals each may be produced by the 5 Akademis, and 5 review journals may be brought out by the central agency, i.e., CSTT in 15 subjects to be used by students as supplementary reading materials based on latest developments in the subject. An account of such activities of the CSSTT is given later in this chapter.
8.09. Production of Urdu Books: Urdu is an important non-state language spoken by a cross-section of the Indian people. To consider the question of producing university-level books in Urdu in line with similar programmes for other Indian languages, a conference of the Education Ministers of the concerned states, vice-chancellors and heads of Urdu departments of the concerned universities had been convened on April 23, 1969 at New Delhi. As recommended by this conference, the
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Union Government set up for the purpose a central board called Tarraqui-e-Urdu Board with the Union Minister for Education and Youth Services as chairman and Prof. M. Mujeeb, Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, as vice-chairman, for the production of literature in Urdu. An allocation of Rs. 1 crore was made available to the Board for its book development programmes during the Fourth Plan period. Following its first meeting held on July 31, 1969, the first task to which the Board addressed itself was to survey the existing literature in Urdu in various subjects and to prepare a bibliography of existing Urdu books. The Board also laid down the guidelines and the mechanism for selecting titles and the allotment of work to Urdu scholars for translation and original writing. It set up 25 subject panels. Besides the university-level textbooks and reference literature, the Board decided that books on popular science, children's literature, reference works, encyclopaedias and basic books for teaching Urdu should also be prepared and published. The various subject panels have so far selected 603 titles for translation/original writing. They also selected translators, authors and evaluators for 494 titles, which have been allotted by the CSTT, functioning at present as the secretariat of the Board. Out of these, 185 books are at an advanced stage of translation. So far manuscripts of 23 translations/original writings and rare books duly revised have been sent to the subject- vetters out of which ten have been finally approved; two have been printed and one book is at the last stage of printing. It has been decided that the manuscripts so prepared under the auspices of the Board may be got published in collaboration with publishers, under the scheme of preparation, translation and publication of books in collaboration with publishers (an account of which is given later). The Board had its second meeting on November 18, 1970 in which it took several decisions to accelerate the pace of production of books and other literature in Urdu, the important among which relate to the setting up of a standing committee to guide and supervise the work.
8.10. The Union Government have agreed in principle to give a grant of Rs. 4 lakh to the Anjuman-Tarraqui-e-Urdu
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Hind, Aligarh, for the construction of an Urdu Ghar in Delhi on the condition that the Anjuman shall provide suitable accommodation for the offices of the Tarraqui-e-Urdu Board and for an Urdu library to be set up under the auspices of the Board.
8.11. Production of Books in Sindhi: The Union Government are also considering the question of producing educational literature in Sindhi which is also an important non-state language.
8.12. National Programme of Core Books: Besides the language-wise book-production programmes described earlier, a national progarmme of core books to be written by eminent Indian writers on various subject fields has been taken up at the Central level. If originally a core book is in a regional language, Its English version will first be brought out by the Union Government to enable its subsequent translation in other languages. Thus the core books would be of such a standard and quality that all universities would accept them as textbooks or reference literature, and they would remain effective at least for a period of 5 to 10 years. A Core Book Committee under the chairmanship of the Union Education Minister was set up for selecting titles for translation/original writing under this programme. The responsibility for the publication of books has been entrusted to the National Book Trust. To begin with, it has been decided to bring out the translation of 11 volumes of the History and Culture of Indian People published by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. For production of university-level medical books, it has been decided to set up a cell in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. A textbook on anatomy meant for undergraduate medical students has already been taken up. It has also been decided to bring, out a book on surgery in consultation with the representatives of the Association of Surgeons of India. For books in the humanities and social sciences, the UGC has been gathering suggestions from various universities. It is proposed to bring out about 500 titles under the
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scheme during the Fourth Plan period. As per decision of the last meeting of the Core Book Committee, an expert committee has been set up to draw up a scheme for writing original books under the Core Book Programme by eminent Indian writers and to suggest the various types of assistance that should be offered to such writers like the grant of sabbatical, leave, offer of fellowships in the Institute of Advanced Study, Simla, or under the UGC scheme or the Ministry scheme of junior fellowships for writing/translation and the proposed assistance offered by the USAID as an extension of their subsidy scheme under the joint Indo-American Textbook Programme.
8.13. Award of Fellowships for Writing/Translation: To supplement the efforts made by the State Governments and universities for production and translation of university-level books in regional languages, the Government of India have, from the current financial year, initiated a scheme to award 100 fellowships, each of the value of Rs. 500 plus an annual contingent grant of Rs. 2,000 to enable a proportion of outstanding students in sciences. humanities and social sciences after their master's degree to associate themselves with distinguished university teachers for purposes of undertaking writing of quality books at the university level. The essential purpose of the scheme, besides bringing out quality books, monographs, trans- lations, etc. is to develop a pool of young competent scholars actively interested in indigenous preparation of quality books in the country. The books could be written in English or any of the Indian languages. The scheme is being implemented by the UGC. The Commission will also organise suitable workshops to enable such scholars to receive some training in techniques of translation, book- writing, 'use of controlled vocabulary, etc., and such workshops will be organized in a few universities on a subject basis. The identification and selection of suitable guides or supervisors, his association with younger scholars/scientists, providing the younger scholar with the leisure and library facilities to devote full-time to writing, providing critical' review during the preparation of manuscripts and for
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classroom testing and evaluation before final publication are the key factors of the scheme. The supervisors are proposed to be chosen by a committee of experts in each subject who would also give suggestions regarding books required urgently in each subject.
8.14. Award of Prizes to Writers of Original Books in Indian Languages including English: To promote Indian authorship, it is proposed to initiate a scheme of awarding prizes to authors of original books which can either be used as textbooks or supplementary reading material for the university students in Indian languages including English. The details of the scheme are being worked out.
8.15. Procurement of Translation Rights: This Ministry have negotiated with British Publishers Association and American publishers to make available to the Government of India translation rights of their books. 28 us leading publishers have agreed to make the translation rights of their books available at 100 dollars per language irrespective of the size of the edition. Terms of negotiation with the British Publishers Association envisaged a graded rate of (pound) 15 per language edition for the first edition of a print order of 2000 and at the rate of (pound) 10 for subsequent 1000 copies up to a total of 5000 copies. Almost all the leading British firms have agreed to release translation rights of their books subject to availability of copyright. A copyright clearance cell has been set up in the office of the CSTT, New Delhi, to procure the translation rights in respect of foreign titles on behalf of the State Gov- ernments. All the State Governments have been asked to intimate their requirements direct to the CSTT which would enter into agreement with the publishers and also make payments to them to be adjusted subsequently against the Central grants available to the states for book production. This cell has obtained copyrights for 83 USA titles and 61 UK titles. Besides, the cell has also sent contracts to us and British publishers in respect of 506 and 241 titles respectively.
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B: BOOK PRODUCTION PROGRAMMES OF THE CSTT 8.16. Programmes of University-Level Books in Hindi as the Central Agency of Hindi-Speaking States: As the central agency of the Conference of the Representatives of Hindi-Speaking States for University-level Books in Hindi, it is one of the main functions of the CSTT to produce books in medicine, agriculture and engineering. Sufficient progress has been made in this behalf. In engineering 182 titles for original writing and 163 books for translation were selected. In medicine, 52 titles were selected for translation out of which 45 have already been allotted to scholars in all the States. Two books on medicine have been selected for original writing and work on them is progressing; besides, the scholars all over the country interested in writing original books in the branches of their specialisation have been approached and the response is very encouraging. In agriculture, 122 titles for original writing and 69 for translation were selected; against this, 93 authors and 63 translators have already accepted the assignments. The CSTT also looks after the Hindi Book Production Directorates of Delhi and Banaras Hindu Universities. The Hindi Book Production Directorate of Delhi University has, since its inception in July 1963, published 15 titles, in addition to 26 titles which are at present in various stages of the printing process. The Directorate at BHU, since its inception, has published 26 standard works so far, besides 36 titles at present in various stages of production.
8.17. Standard Works in Hindi and Indian Languages and Publishers Collaboration Scheme: To provide standard books in Hindi/regional languages by translating foreign books or by getting books originally written and to propagate and publicise. the terminology evolved by it, the CSTT has been implementing since 1959 the scheme of standard works of university-level in Hindi and regional languages. Another scheme was originally started to prepare, translate and publish popular books in Hindi in collaboration with publishers. Later on, the scheme was also extended in the case of the preparation, trans-