21 States One Million People To Embrace National Reading Day

21 States One Million People to Embrace National Reading Day

Co-patrons Meenakshi Lekhi and Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta started work on the National Reading Day campaign almost a month ago. Today, they have 21 states, multiple schools, colleges and NGOs all set to roll out India Reads, India Rises (पठतु भारतम्, वर्धताम् भारतम्।, a campaign to remind people about the ‘transformative power of reading.’

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This year, 19th June, National Reading Day is going to be both a movement and a festival. The Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust and Gyan Key Fit Key of the Rural Relations Movement have joined hands with Reading Coach Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta abd Meenakshi Lekhi to take the reading movement to 21 states and Union territories across the country. These are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, ⁠Punjab, Odisha, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, ⁠Karnataka, Bihar, Kerala, ⁠Jharkhand, ⁠Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the Union territories of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh

A special event in Mumbai at NGMA, under the Ministry of Culture, will have school children reading between 1 pm and 2 pm on 19th June. NGMA Delhi and NGMA Bengaluru are also supporting the movement. In Mumbai, several institutions have committed to participate- The Bombay Teachers Training College, SIES Group of colleges, several private schools and those run by the MCGM and of course, the NGMA itself. Several private citizens have reached out on instagram to

Former Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi observes, “ If India has to become a trillion dollar economy by 2047, then reading is definitely going to be a big part of it. National Reading Day aims to remind us that the rapid change from reading books to scrolling for long hours on social media is affecting our attention spans. It is adversely impacting the youth of our country and all over the world, very badly. Long periods of time spent on smartphones is reducing our ability to do deep work and consider the long term consequences of our actions. This in turn is affecting our progress, our ability to think long term and interact meaningfully with each other. As a country and a society, we must revive the reading habit and strive to achieve a balance between the real world and the digital world.”

Her own NGO Dialogues between the east and west is also a partner to the program

Reading Coach Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta adds, “ On this day, we must remember the contributions of PN Panicker, Libraryman of India. The ask is simple,

All private citizens/ corporations may observe 4 pm to 5 pm as ‘Reading Hour’ on 19th June and to allocate some time to read during this period.
All schools and colleges may declare 9 am to 10 am as Reading Hour.

If you cannot read for an hour, start by reading for a few minutes; but read a book of your choice. Reclaim your focus. The PM’s Vanche Gujarat campaign also aimed to conquer the power of your mind by reading for an hour, on 19th June. Remember that we were never born to read as a species. The mass-ification of knowledge by reading and writing happened about 500 years ago. Interestingly, this is also the period where we have seen much of the scientific progress we enjoy today. Reading has been the bridge to human progress and we must all revive this.”