Buoyed by the response of bibliophiles to their existing bookstores at two metro stations, the National Book Trust is planning to open two additional stores at Karol Bagh and Central Secretariat metro stations as a number of government employees and youngsters studying professional courses travel in trains crossing the stations.
NBT Director M. A. Sikandar said as the reading public, particularly the Delhi University students and teachers, have been purchasing economically-priced books in bulk at Delhi Vishwavidyalaya and Kashmere Gate stations, a thought was given to taking it forward.
“However, since we cannot pay rent at the current market rate, we will soon be negotiating with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on opening the bookstores at Karol Bagh and Central Secretariat. We recently conducted a survey which indicated that a number of youngsters were using the metro and travelling to these stations. Most of them are undertaking courses at various professional institutions and need to read academic books,” said Dr. Sikandar, an academic administrator at Delhi University on deputation to NBT.
Similarly, the NBT is also in touch with Delhi University as the student community wants to have a bookstore in the proximity.
“In the last edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair in the Capital, Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Singh agreed in-principle to give us the go-ahead to open a bookstore. The bookstore will be beneficial to not only students but also teachers. Apart from academic and fiction books, we would also be inviting authors to give a talk on how to write lucid and informative books. This would encourage students and the teaching fraternity to become authors.”
