New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: The national body for book publishing and book promotion, National Book Trust (NBT) under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, will be launching a book titled ‘Corona Studies Series’ to provide relevant reading materials for all age-groups for post-Covid-19 readership needs and also provide a platform to authors and researchers willing to contribute in this genre.
The reading materials are for all age groups and are focused on the post-Corona readership requirements. NBT also aims to provide relevant information on the psychological, social, economic and cultural significance of Coronavirus Pandemic for the human society in times to come.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared 21-days nationwide lockdown to control the spread of Coronavirus in the country. Though the lockdown has proven to be helpful in controlling the spread of the virus, many people are still unsure about the future. Apart from that many even are unaware about the pandemic and its related information in detail.
“In response to the national crisis of this proportion, we believe that as a national institution it is our duty to take initiatives within our domain area to provide support in the form of new reading materials. The ‘Corona Studies Series’ seeks to be our long-term contribution to prepare and engage readers with the various aspects of the Corona times by bringing out affordable books in various Indian languages in the identified subject areas. It will also provide suitable platform to authors and researchers willing to contribute in this genre,” said Professor Govind Prasad Sharma, Chairman, National Book Trust, India.
“We have been closely following the Corona-related developments and taking cues from the multi-dimensional initiatives of our parent Ministry of HRD’s (Government of India) initiatives to meet the challenges of the Corona Pandemic. As a body for reading promotion, we find that we have a significant role to play. Accordingly, we started #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks initiatives by uploading PDFs of some of our select and bestselling titles for free downloads, and we have been receiving tremendous response,” said Shri Yuvraj Malik, Director, National Book Trust, India.
Malik added, “Taking a comprehensive view, we are launching this publishing series. As the first step, we have set-up a Study Group comprising of some experienced and young psychologists/counsellors to prepare books on the sub-series on ‘Psycho-Social Impact of Corona Pandemic and the Ways to Cope’. We hope to bring out both e-editions and printed editions of these books soon enough as support materials for the readers.”
“We have identified various areas for preparing suitable reading materials under the ‘Corona Studies Series’. Besides, the sub-series on the Psycho-Social Impact on various segment of population due to Corona crisis, we are preparing children’s books to let them know about Our Corona Warriors, and other story and picture books related to various aspects of Corona to create awareness. Also, books focused on art, literature, folklore, economic and sociological aspects, science/health awareness emerging out of the Corona pandemic, and the lockdown, are also in the pipeline”, said Shri Kumar Vikram, Senior Editor of National Book Trust, India, who is leading the Project.
The NBT Study Group comprises of Dr. Jitender Nagpal, Dr.Harsheeta, Sq. Ldr (Rtd.) Meena Arora, Lt. Col. Tarun Uppal, Mrs. Rekha Chauhan, Mrs. Sonie Sidhu and Ms. Aparajita Dixit.