Publishers crippled with anxiety for another Book Fair amid the pandemic

As February approaches, the Dhaka University campus is ready to be adorned with festivity-flowers. Every year, the Bangla Academy premises bustle with book lovers strolling the grounds for the entire month. However, since the pandemic hit the country, it has taken its toll on many sectors, including the largest book fair in the country - Amar Ekushey Boi Mela. 

Last year, the Book Fair was delayed by a month due to the pandemic. The publishers incurred financial losses due to various reasons including multiple Covid-19 restrictions. Many complained that the opening and closing schedule was to blame. 

TheReport.live visited several publications to dig deeper in to the arrangements regarding this year‍‍`s Book Fair. Various publishers have shared their plans for the event next month. 

Annesha Publisher‍‍`s Md. Shahadat Hossain said that the main tenure of the Book Fair is in February anually. Last year‍‍`s Book Fair started in March, then ended two days ahead of schedule. Also, the daily schedule for the Book Fair was not enough. For all these reasons, we have suffered a lot at the last Book Fair.

He said that only the printing of the books that will be published in this year‍‍`s Book Fair is pending. This time we are hoping that measures will be taken in favour of the Book Fair. Otherwise, it will not be possible for the publishers to make up for the previous loss.

Most publishers revealed they have made almost all the preparations for this year‍‍`s Book Fair. Many have also printed books. The rest of the books will be printed as soon as the Book Fair is announced. If for some reason the Book Fair is disrupted now, it will be difficult for them to recover from last year‍‍`s losses.

When TheReport.live visited Khan Brothers and Company, the manager of the publication, Mohammad Tota Mia, who was present there, said that they were not going to the Book Fair this year.

Asked about the reason for such a decision, he said, as coronavirus infections are on the rise again, so we have decided to skip the fair this year to prevent further losses. 

Several other publishers have also expressed concern about the recent rise in coronavirus infections.

When contacted, Farid Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Knowledge and Creative (Gyaan O‍‍` Sreejonshil) Book Publishing Association, said, "We have raised a number of proposals to the concerned authorities, including halving the rent of Book Fair stalls, so that publishers do not have to face losses this year."

When the Director General of Bangla Academy Muhammad Nurul Huda was approached by TheReport.live, he said he is not able to make any remark currently. He also said that no decision has been taken by the government in this regard yet. He will be able to disclose information about their next steps after the decision is made.