BOOK PROMOTION AND COPYRIGHT
The Ministry of Education has adopted several measures towards production and promotion of books and making them available to the people at moderate prices. During the year under review there has been noticeable improvement in their variety and also in their quantity and quality. Some of the import-ant programmes undertaken in this regard are briefly described in the following paragraphs.
NATIONAL BOOK TRUST The National Book Trust was set up in 1957 as an autonomous organisation with the objectives of producing and encouraging the production of good reading material for and for promoting book- mindedness among the people. In furtherance of these objectives, the Trust has been continuously engaged in publication programmes and also programmes for organising book fairs, exhibitions, seminars, symposia, etc. Besides, the Trust has served the needs of the student community by subsidising the publication of a large number of text books or supplementary reading material for the university students.
Since its inception, the Trust has to date brought out 932 books, out of which 237 are in English and 695 in 12 major Indian languages. This is in conformity with the Trust's avowed objectives to encourage publishing in regional languages.
The bulk of the Trust's publishing programme is in the following series : India-the Land and the People, National Biography, Popular Science, World of Today, Folklore of India, and Young India Library, in addition to a number of books of a general nature outside such series. The Trust has, in the period April-December 1979 published 65 books out of which 23 are in English and 42 in the major Indian languages.
The Trust also continued implementing the special projects, namely, the Aadan-Pradan and the Nehru Bal Pustakalaya, to foster national integration and provide communication channels
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on an inter-regional and inter-linguistic basis by translation of outstanding books of one Indian language into other Indian languages. Under the Aadan-Pradan programmes, the Trust has so far brought out a total of 442 books out of which 15 have been published in the period April-December, 1979.
Under the Nehru Bal Pustakalaya programme, which is intended to provide supplementary reading material for children with national integration as the underlying idea, 22 titles have been published during April-December 1979 bringing the total number published under this series to 601.
To commemorate the Year of the Child, 1979, and to encourage production of literature in the regional languages, the Trust has brought out anthologies of contemporary stories for children in 12 languages i.e. Assamese, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Urdu. Another special project for this year has been a book on Festivals of India, profusely illustrated with photographs.
Scheme of Subsidised Publication of University Level Books in
English The Trust has subsidised the publication of 21 books up to December 1979 during 1979-80, bringing the total number of books subsidised under the scheme, to 300. In view of the fact that schools and colleges in most states have adopted the regional languages as the media of instruction, the Trust is now actively considering the extension of the scheme to cover books in regional languages.
The Trust has also been organising annual book fairs on national and regional levels. The Trust has so far organised nine National Book Fairs in important metropolitan cities of India and 90 Regional Book Exhibitions.
Fourth World Book Fair The Trust has also organised three World Book Fairs, the first in 1972, the second in 1976 and the third in 1978. The Fourth World Book Fair was held in New Delhi in February-March 1980. The Posts and Telegraphs Department issued a special postage stamp to commemorate the occasion.
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The Trust has been organising seminars, symposia, workshops, and training courses on problems connected with the writing, translation, editing, publishing, distribution and promotion of books, with the objective, inter alia, of encouraging publication of language books in the country. As a part of its programme of holding seminars on the theme of 'Publication in the Next Decade' the Trust, during the year, organised two seminars on publishing in Punjabi and Malayalam. During the Ninth National Book Fair held at Bangalore, a three-day seminar on 'Publishing for Children in the Next Decade' was conducted.
To synchronise with the Fourth World Book Fair the Trust organised a number of seminars, symposia, workshops, etc. One of the seminars organised under the assistance from UNESCO related to 'Publishing for Rural Areas in Developing Countries. A number of Indian and Foreign delegate participated in the seminar.
Publication of Low-priced Editions of University Level Books of
Foreign Origin In order to make low-priced editions of standard university books and reference material of foreign origin available to the university students, this Ministry has been operating three programmes in collaboration with the Governments of the U.K. (English Language Book Society Series, since 1960), the U.S.A. (Joint Indo-American Standard Works Programme, since 1961 and the U.S.S.R. (Joint Indo-Soviet Textbook Programme, since 1965). Books brought out under these programmes are first assessed by appropriate agencies and experts to their suitability to Indian students and non-availability of comparable Indian Books. The prices of such books come to about 1/3rd to 1/5th of the standard editions.
So far about 700 British, 1,600 American and 340 Soviet titles have been published under these programmes.
Under the Indo-Soviet Programme, a scheme for the award of scholarships to Indian scholars for training in translation techniques in the USSR is being implemented since 1970-71. So far, 27 Indian scholars have received this training.
The Indo-Soviet programme is being implemented under the over-all guidance of the Joint Indo-Soviet Textbook Board which was set up in 1965, with the Union Education Secretary as Chairman and five members each from the Soviet and Indian
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sides. The Board meets alternatively in India and the USSR. The Board held its 11th meeting in Moscow from 14th to 21st May, 1979. A three-member Indian delegation led by Shri P. Sabanayagam, Secretary, Ministry of Education and Social Welfare, attended the meeting. The Soviet delegation was led by H.E. Prof. N. S. Egorov, Deputy Minister of Higher and Specialised Secondary Education, USSR.
Consultations with the Governments of the GDR, FRG, Poland and Hungary for developing similar translation and publication programmes are in progress.
Procurement of Translation Rights As part of their programmes to produce university level books in Indian languages, the State Governments have been bringing out translations into Indian languages of suitable foreign books. To facilitate and to coordinate the work of obtaining translation rights from foreign copyright owners in regard to books selected by the State Governments the copyright licences are negotiated centrally on behalf of the State Governments. During 1979-80, eight contracts for translation rights were executed, bringing the total to 1,458 contracts with the American, British and other foreign publishers, etc.
National Book Development Board The National Book Development Board was set up in 1967, and reconstituted in 1970, as an advisory body to lay down the guidelines for the development of the Indian book industry and the trade in the context-of the overall requirements of the country.
The Board functioned till February 1974 and made a number of important recommendations. The question of reconstitution of the Board is now under consideration.
Import and Export of Books
Import Policy for books 1979-80 During 1979-80, the liberalised import policy was continued and import of educational, scientific and technical books and journals, news magazines and newspapers was allowed under General Licence. This facility was subject to the grant of permission by this Ministry in cases where more than 2,000
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copies of a single title were proposed to be imported. In the Interest of the development of the indigenous book industry, the import of foreign editions of books for which latest Indian reprints are available were not allowed.
Dealers in books whose purchase turnover was Rs. 3 lakhs or more were eligible to apply for import licence on the basis of 10 per cent of their purchase turnover. Import of books other than those covered by the Open General Licence was allowed under the import licences. The importers were free to import any of the categories of books, viz., fiction, non-technical magazines, children books, teaching aids, etc. without any percentage restriction as applicable up to 1977-78. Recognised schools, colleges and libraries were also allowed to apply for the grant of import licence for the import of Books not covered under OGL up to a value of Rs. 10,000 per year per institution.
These facilities and the concession for the release of post parcels containing books, magazines and periodicals without the importers having to produce the import licence, continued to be available during 1979-80.
Book Export Promotional Activities India, as one of the leading publishing countries in the world, has a growing potential for exporting books not only to the established markets like the UK and the USA but to new markets in South-East Asia, West Asia and Anglophone Africa. Concerted efforts are being made in this direction.
During 1979-80, India participated in the Singapore Festival of Books, International Book Fair held in Moscow, London International Book Fair, Frankfurt International Book Fair and National Book Fair in Ghana. It is proposed to participate in Cairo International Book Fair and Leipzig Book Fair during the current year.
Special exhibitions of Indian books wore also organised in Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt and Nigeria with the assistance of the respective Indian Missions. Special exhibitions of Indian books are expected to be organised in Bangladesh, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Indonesia during the remaining part of the year.
Books were also, displayed in various International Children's Book Exhibitions held to celebrate the International Year of the
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Child in Tokyo, Bangkok, Seoul, Manila, Caracas and Addis Ababa.
Raja Rammohun Roy National Educational Resources Centre The Centre was set up in 1972, as a part of the Book Promotion Division, with the objective, inter-alia, of promoting the writing and production of indigenous university level books and documentation and statistical analysis of printed materials imported into the country. It has about 31,250 volumes of university level books in the various disciplines produced in the country since 1965 in all languages including English as also low priced foreign books to enable authors, publishers and others interested to consult, at one place, the available indigenous university level books and identify the subject fields and levels where books need be, and could be, produced indigenously. From time to time, the Centre holds exhibitions of selected books at different university centres to publicise the indigenously available books. It also arranges for evaluation of the books at the Centre by panels of subject-experts and brings to the notice of the universities, etc., particulars of the books that have been adjudged to be of standards so that the indigenous books could be increasingly used instead of imported books. The Centre conducts sample surveys on the various aspects of the production and use of indigenous university level books. The Centre also issues periodical supplements, to keep up-to-date, the National Catalogue of University Level Books which was compiled in 1971 by the Federation of Publishers and Book-sellers Associations in India. It also brings out bibliographies on topics of interest on or in anticipation of demands of authors and research scholars.
The Centre has also recently been designated as the National Agency for the Introduction of the International Standard Book Numbering System in India.
During the year 1979-80, the Centre organised an exhibition at the Rajasthan University, Jaipur. Two more exhibitions are to be organised during the remaining part of the year.
A sample survey of books prescribed/recommended for study by some select universities in a few selected subjects, was carried out by the Centre in 1973. A comprehensive survey comprising the syllabi of all universities is now being undertaken.
During 1979-80, the Centre has brought out four supplements to the National Catalogue of University Level Books,
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covering the period October 1978-september 1979. The Centre also proposes to print up-to-date volumes of the National Catalogue.
The Centre has also brought out two issues of the Annotated Catalogue of Low-priced Publications and Core Books, which include books under the National Book Trust's Subsidy Scheme, the Core Books Programme and books brought out under the collaboration programmes with the U.K., the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. including their translations/adaptation.
Two issues of the Annotated Guide to Periodical Literature on Book Industry indexing article appearing in select English periodicals and newspapers, published in India and abroad, have been brought out during the year.
During the year, the fourth fascicule of the bibliography on Book Industry and Trade has been brought out.
A sample survey, with a limited scope, of the import documents of eight importers, covering their imports during 1976-77, has been carried out. The Centre has also been assigned another survey of books costing more than Rs. 100/ in Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture, Sciences and Technology, where imports are substantial.
International Copyright During the year, India participated in the meetings of the following Committees etc :-
(a) Executive Committee of the Berne Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works; (b) Permanent Committee for Development Cooperation Related to Copyright and Neighbouring Rights; (c) World Intellectual Property Organisation (a specialised UN agency in the field of intellectual property) Budget Committee; (d) Working Group on Over-all Problems posed for Developing Countries concerning Access to Works Protected under Copyright Conventions.
Besides, the Secretary, Ministry of Education and Culture lead the delegation to the meeting of the Governing Bodies of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), during September-October 1979. India also attended the meeting of Consultants on Registration and Institutional Arrangements for the Support of National Authors and Performers, to advise on the issue of U.S.A.s accession to the Berne Convention.
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A delegation consisting of representatives of the Ministries of Finance and Education, and lead by Indian Ambassador in Spain, participated. In the Diplomatic Conference, held at Madrid during November-December 1979, for the adoption of a Multi, lateral Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation of Copyright Royalties remitted from one Country to another.
Training facilities offered to foreign countries under
International Cooperation Under the Annual Copyright Training Programme 1979 of WIPO, India received one trainee each from Fiji and Indonesia, for training in copyright and related fields like publishing, from 24th to 30th November, 1979.
India also received four UNESCO trainees, one each from Afghanistan, Nepal, Singapore and Thailand, from 10th to 21st December, 1979 for training in the field of book publishing, editing, printing, library services, etc. under UNESCO's short-term In-service Study Grant for the Book Industry Personnel in Asia, 1979.
Copyright The Copyright Board reconstituted with effect from 24th September, 1976, in pursuance of Section 11 of the Copyright Act, 1957 (14 of 1957), with Justice Hardayal Hardy, retired Chief Justice, Delhi High Court, as its Chairman, held 8 meetings during the year 1979, heard 65 cases and decided 25.
'During the year 1979, 4,180 works were registered in the Copy- right Office for Copyright, out of which 3,732 were artistic and 448 literary works. In addition, changes in the Register of Copyrights were registered for 55 works.