CHAPTER X SOCIAL EDUCATION, READING MATERIALS AND LIBRARIES
A. SOCIAL EDUCATION 1. The field programme of social (adult) education, with adult literacy as the core activity, is the responsibility of the State Governments and Union Administrations-. The role of the Union Ministry of Eucation is to coordinate programmes and to provide supporting services and conduct pilot projects.
2. In so far as the, programmes of the Ministry of Education are concerned, the important activities in the field of social edu- cation during the year under report are briefly described in the following paragraphs.
3. Workers' Social Education Institute, Indore : The Institute continued to provide educational facilities to industrial workers and their families at Indore. Its activities consisted mainly of conducting classes in English, Hindi, drawing, music. and mahila handicrafts. A maintenance grant of Rs. 85,000 was given to the Institute through the Government of Madhya Pradesh during the year.
4. Workers' Social Education Institute, Nagpur: A grant of Rs. 40,000 was given to the Maharashtra Government to set up the Workers' Social Education Institute at Nagpur on the lines of the institute at Indore.
5. Assistance to Voluntary Educational Organisations: Grants totalling Rs. 2,42,224 have been sanctioned so far to voluntary educational organisations for the development of various activities in the field of social (adult) education (excluding libraries). This includes a refund of Rs. 2,00,817 made to the Ford Foundation in India oil account of the assistance given by the Foundation for Vidyapeethas in Mysore.
6. Functional Literacy Project: A Functional Literacy Pro- gramme, as part of the larger project on "Farmers' Education and Functional Literacy", formulated jointly by the Ministries of Education, Food and Agriculture and Information and Broadcasting is proposed to be started this year in three selected districts (one each in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Mysore) where the High Yielding Varieties Programme of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is already in progress. The Ministry of Information and
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Broadcasting will provide Farm Forum broadcasts for the farmers. The scheme will be continued next year. An expenditure of Rs. 49,000 is estimated for the current year. An amount of Rs. 16,200 each has been sanctioned to the governments of Punjab, U.P. and Mysore.
7. International Literacy Day: In the World Congress of Ministers of Education on eradication of illiteracy held in Tehran on 8th September, 1965 it was recommended that 8th September be proclaimed as International Literacy Day and be observed every year by all the countries of the world. This was accepted by Unesco in 1966 who made the recommendation to Member States to observe 8th September each year as the International Literary Days. In pursuance of the Unesco recommendation, the Government of India requested all the State Governments and Union Administrations, the Ministries of Government of India and voluntary educational organisations to observe the Day suit- ably. The President of India broadcast a message on the eve of the Literacy Day and a public meeting was organised in New Delhi under the presidentship of Shri Bhagwat Jha Azad, Minister of State for Education.
B. READING MATERIALS 8. Prize Competition of Books for Neo-Literates: The thirteenth Prize Competition of Books for Neo-Literates was announced. The last date for the submission of entries was 31st October, 1967. About 40 prizes of Rs. 1,000 each will be awarded to the authors of printed books or manuscripts adjudged to be of sufficiently high quality to merit a prize in the competition. The award of prizes will be subject to a fair distribution among the fourteen Indian languages including Sindhi in which the entries are invited.
8 (b). During the year, 1,500 copies each of 6 prize-winning books under the XI Competition, 15 books under the XII Competition and 11 books under the scheme of translation of the additional prize- winning books of the previous competitions, were purchased for free distribution to community development and N.E.S. blocks, social education centres, adult literacy centres and village libraries, etc. through the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations where the neo-literate adults and new reading public will have access to them.
9. UNESCO Prize Competition of Books for New Reading Public: Authors of 16 printed books were selected for an award of Rs. 946 each under the V Unesco Competition of Books
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for the New Reading Public. These include 4 prizes for 4 Hindi books and one prize each for books in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Panjabi, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. The results of this competition were anounced on 2nd October, 1967.
10. Direct Production of Literature for Neo-Literates: The manuscript of Volume IV of Popular Hindi Encyclopaedia entitled 'Gyan Sarovar' is under print. The manuscript of Volume V has also been sent to the Publication Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for printing.
C. LIBRARIES 11. The Union Government maintains and develops sonic libraries of all-India importance and also carries out programmes for developing a library service in the country. The Central Secretariat Library, functioning as a part of the Ministry of Education, caters to the needs of all Ministries and Departments and also carries out useful documentation of educational and other literature. An account of the activities of the Ministry of Education in the field is given below.
12. Grants to Public Libraries : Central grants are given to public libraries for the purchase of books and furniture at the rate of 60% of total expenditure and for the construction of library buildings at the rate of 40% of total expenditure or Rs. 30,000 whichever is less. During 1967-68, a provision of Rs. 2.25 lakh was made for the purpose which for reasons of economy has been reduced to Rs. 1.00 lakh. Steps are being taken to sanction grants to the public libraries in the country for their development on the recommendations of the State Governments.
NATIONAL LIBRARY, CALCUTTA 13. The library maintained good progress during the year.
(i) Acquisition: The total number of volumes accessioned during the period is 23,861, of which 6,216 volumes are in Indian languages. These also include 1,214 maps. During the year, 12,179 volumes were received under the provisions of the Delivery of Books (Public Libraries) Act, 1954. The number of receipts through gift and exchange was 9,325. As many as 11,841 current periodicals (titles) were recorded during the period. These include 9,928 Indian periodicals received under the Act, and 666 foreign journals acquired through purchase and the rest were received on exchange basis.
The budget provision for the purchase of books and periodicals during 1967-68 was Rs. 3,50,000. As Indian publication
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are received free of cost under the provisions of the D.B. (Public Libraries) Act, 1954, almost the entire amount is spent on foreign books and journals.
(ii) Language Divisions: The Indian Language Divisions have accessioned 6,216 volumes. They have also fully processed 8,930 volumes. All of them together have compiled 47 bibliographies consisting of 4,644 entries. The Russian Language Division accessioned 377 and catalogued 350 volumes.
(iii) Processing: A total number of 28,908 volumes of books and maps have been fully processed during the period. Of these, 18,378 are in European languages including periodicals and serials, 8,930 in Indian languages and 1,915 maps. Volume 1(A) of the Subject Catalogue of Printed Books in European Languages (1951-61) has been published the period under report.
(iv) Reference and Bibliographical Works: The Reference and Bibliography Divisions together have compiled 88 bibliographies containing 5,649 entries. These were compiled at the request of research scholars and learned institutions. The bibliohgraphies are on various topics and are of different length. As a result of the Librarian's request to the authorities of the national libraries of the world, a number of bibliographies were received during the period for the Gandhi Centenary Bibliography. The entries have been scrutinized and finally 901 items have been added to the nucleus already made by this Library.
The work in connection with Unesco-cum-Government of India project for microfilming of rare and valuable manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian was started in June, 1966 and continued till August 22, 1967. The Unesco Expert microfilmed 2,87,032 folios of, manuscripts. One positive copy has also been printed from the negatives.
During this period, the Library has acquired one Microfilm Reader, two Paper Testing Machines and one indigenous Humidifier. Orders for procurement of microfilming equipment and allied accessories have also been placed.
(v) Exhibitions : Several exhibitions were arranged during the period to mark various occasions. Of these, an Exhibition on Calcutta, 1690-1900 consisting of books maps, manuscripts and illustrations was arranged in November, 1967, on the occasion of the 38th session of the Indian Historical Records Commission held in Calcutta which was highly appreciated both by the public and by the reviewers.
(vi) The Annexe : The air-conditioning work of the rare books section with provision for aluminium fire resistant parti-
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tions is in progress. It is hoped that the work would be completed soon.
CENTRAL REFERENCE LIBRARY, CALCUTTA 14. The Central Reference Library continued its work regarding the publication of the Indian National Bibliography on the monthly basis and helped the State Governments in the compilation and editing of the language fascicules of the Bibliography, which were published by the State Governments.
CENTRAL SECRETARIAT LIBRARY 15, Library provides reference and lending facilities to the employees of the Government of India and for the official needs of the Government of India, their ministries/departments, attached and subordinate offices in Delhi. During the year of the Government of India, their ministries/departments, attached and subordinate offices in Delhi. During the year under report the registered membership of the Library increased from 8, 245 to 12,000. The total issues during the year were 2,07,307. During the year under report, the Library added 4,867 books, 7,762 non-serial documents and 42,977 serial documents. The number of periodical titles received regularly was 903.
15.1 Several bibliographies, on demand or in anticipation of the requirements of the Government of India, were compiled and distributed. The Library continued to bring out the two quarterly abstracting publications, viz., 'Indian Education Abstracts' and 'Current Educational Literature'. Lists of recent additions were also put out regularly.
15.2. A new building in the form of an Annexe to Shastri Bhavan has been specially constructed for the Central Secretariat Library and the Library expects to shift to the new permises shortly. It is planned to extend the opening hours, acquire more books in Indian languages and considerably develop the documentation services.
DELHI PUBLIC LIBRARY, DELHI 16. The Delhi Public Library at present has, besides the Central Library, four branches, eight community libraries, 17 deposit stations and four mobile library vans visiting 54 stations once a week. Among its special services may be mentioned a library in the Central Jail for prisoners, Hospital Library Service in the Hindu Rao Hospital and G. B. Pant Hospital, Braille Library for the blind, a gramophone record library and a framed pictures collection. The Library is thus rendering service at present at 90 odd points.
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16.1. In the Extension Services Wing, two new Deposit Stations were added, one at Qudsia Garden Centre of the Delhi Council of Child Welfare and one at Kailash Nagar. In another month or so, two more Deposit Stations one at the New Police Lines and the other at Sadar Bazar (Delhi Cantt.) are likely to be set up.
16.2. A new typing machine (Perkin's Brailler) was purchased for the Braille Section. Up to 31st December, 1967, the Braille Transcribing Unit, comprising two transcribers and one proof-reader, produced 78 volumes of Bharti Braille books.
16.3. A mobile library service for the blind has been started. The van visits once a week the Blind Welfare Society and the Institute for the Blind.
16.4. During the period under report, 24,478 volumes were added to the Library up to 31st December, 1967 raising the book stock to 3,91,624. Out of these, 58.8 per cent were in Hindi, 21.2 per cent in English, 14 per cent in Urdu and 6 per cent in Punjabi.
16.5. The registered membership of the library stand at present at 1,45,000, of which 59 per cent were adults and 41 per cent were children. Of the total membership, 20.8 per cent were females and 79.2 per cent males. The total number of books issued up to 31st December, 1967 was 16,00,000 against 15,00,000 issued during the same period last year.
16.6. During the period under report, about 65,000 adults and 14,000 children participated in the cultural activities, organised by the library, such as lectures, discussions, dramas, concerts, film shows and television viewings.
16.7. The library had about 1,600 gramophone records which were loaned approximately 7,000 times.
KHUDA BAKHSH ORIENTAL LIBRARY, PATNA 17. A Bill to declare the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library Patna, as an institution of national importance, which had been introduced in the Lok Sabha on 16th August, 1965 lapsed with the dissolution of the Third Lok Sabha. It has been re-introduced in the Lok Sabha on the 21st February, 1968.
CENTRAL LIBRARY, BOMBAY 18. It is a recipient library under the Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, 1954.
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19. National Book Trust : The National Book Trust, India was established in 1957 for the purpose of producing and encouraging the production of good literature and making it available at moderate prices to the public. It also seeks to foster book-mindedness in the people by arranging exhibitions and seminars.
20. Workshop for Translators in Marathi and Gujarati: With the object of promoting standard translation in Indian languages the National Book Trust organised a workshop for translators in Marathi and Gujarati from 22nd to 27th August, 1967, at Bombay. This workshop was the second of the series, the first having been organised in Delhi in March 1967, for translators in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi languages. It covered various aspects of translation of different types of books including informational material, creative literature and scientific and technical books, etc., and laid stress on practical exercise in translation of various types of writings.
21. National Book Fair: The Trust also organised the second National Book Fair in New Delhi in December, 1967. which was inaugurated by the President of India. About 10,000 important books published in India since 1964 were exhibited. At the Fair, other publishers in India also put up their stalls and arranged display of their publications. It is estimated that not less than one lakh people visited the Fair. During this period, a number of seminars and cultural programmes were also organized.
22. The Release of Publications: On the occasion of the an- niversary of the two great personalities of Hindustani Music Vishnu Digambar Paluskar and Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande their biographies brought out by the Trust in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, and English were released. In addition to the above, 36 books in various languages have been brought out during the period under review.
23. Grant-in-Aid: A sum of Rs. 4,82,500 has been released to the, Trust so far.
24. Financial Allocation: The following financial allocations have been made:
Sl. Name of Scheme Budget Revised Provision
No. Estimates Estimates for
for for 1968-69
1967-68 1967-68 Budject
Estimates
Rs. Rs. Rs.
1. Workers' Social Education Institute.
Indore (Plan) 53,000 53,000 53,500
(Non-Plan) 32,000 32,000 36,500
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1 2 3 4 5
Rs. Rs. Rs.
2. Worker's Social Education Institute,
Nagpur (Plan) 40,000 40,000 85,000
3. Functional Literacy Project (Plan) .. 48,000 4,00,000
4. Production of Literature for Neo-
literates (Plan) 43,000 38,000 1,11,000
(Non-Plan)
5. Voluntary Organisation for the
Production of literature for
Neo-literates 25,000 .. ..
6. Sahitya Shivirs for Training Authors
in the Technique of Writing for
Neo-literates 25,000 37,000 ..
7. Assistance to Voluntary Educational Or-
ganisations (Plan) 1,25,000 2,50,000 1,25,000
8. National Library, Calcutta 28,18,000 30,42,000 33,05,000
9. Delhi Public Library 13,27,000 10,04,700 12,58,500
10. Central Reference Library,
Calcutta 2,78,000 2,88,600 3,05,600
11. Central Library, Bombay. 1,00,000 1,00,000 2,00,000
12. Connemara Public Library,
Madras 2,00,000 2,00,000 2,600
13. Khuda Baksh Oriental Public
Library Patna 98,000 98,000 4,49,000
14. Pilot Projects on Adult Literacy Nill Nill 15,00,000