Union Budget 2023: Finance Minister Announces Devlopment of National Digital Library for Children

The Finance Minister stated that the National Digital Library will make books available in multiple languages.

on Feb 03, 2023

Finance Minister Announces Devlopment of National Digital Library for Children

In her Budget 2023 speech on Wednesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the creation of a National Digital Library for children and adolescents to improve access to high-quality books.

The Finance Minister stated that the National Digital Library will make books available in multiple languages, genres, and geographies, and that the government will encourage states to establish physical libraries at the Panchayat and Ward levels, as well as provide the necessary infrastructure to access resources for such libraries.

Furthermore, publishing houses, including the autonomous body under the Ministry of Education, the National Book Trust, as well as the Children's Book Trust and other government agencies, will be encouraged to replenish non-curricular book titles in physical libraries. The books will be available not only in English, but also in regional languages, to compensate for the learning time lost during the Covid-19 pandemic years, the Finance Minister added.

Publishers will be required to provide such books to both physical and digital libraries, according to the finance minister, who also stated that the Central government will collaborate with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to aid literacy for this initiative.

Furthermore, teacher training programmes must be reimagined through innovative pedagogy, continuous professional development, and the use of information and communication technology.

Following FM Sitharaman's announcement, shares of book publishing companies rose in intraday trading on Wednesday. On the BSE, S Chand and Company increased by 1.32 percent, Repro India increased by 5%, and Navneet Education increased by 2.35 percent.