Change in society possible with book reading

Vijayawada: Special Chief Secretary RP Sisodia flagged off the Walk for Books, Padayatra by book lovers, at Siddhartha Arts College here on Monday on the fifth day of the 34th Vijayawada Book Festival.

Noted educationist SR Parimi headed the Walk for Books. The Padayatra passed through No 5 road culminated into a meeting at the Book Festival grounds.

Principal Secretary of Minority Welfare Imtiaz Ahmed who was the chief guest at the meeting said that everyone should read books extensively to bring change in society. “Every citizen feels that he should make an impression on society. In order to achieve it, one should read good books to gain knowledge and identify goals,” he said. The IAS officer said that book reading was one of the habits he had to crack the civil services exam.

Former minister Dokka Manikya Varaprasad described the house with books as the centre for education and development. The children should not be confined to scoring marks and homework. Book reading should be used to attain knowledge. He advised people to study the lives of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr B R Ambedkar and others and read books on Gurram Joshua, SriSri and others. Educationist SR Parimi said that it was unfortunate that Telugu children are not given opportunity to study in their mother tongue at least up to primary school education. The book festivals are helping children to build rapport with books, he said and complimented the organisers of the book festival for organising the festival without any break for the last 34 years.