State Minister KM Khalid Babu dissatisfied over book fair groundwork

State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid Babu has expressed dissatisfaction over arrangements for the Ekushey Book Fair, with just one week to the month-long annual event.

"The book fair is the first test for me. I was not happy with the overall management of the book fair at Suhrawardy Udyan,” he said after visiting the fairground on Wednesday.

Babu who has been included for the first time in the cabinet urged all involved with the fair to speed up work.

“We have very little time left. We need to finish 48 hours of work in 24 hours.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the fair at Bangla Academy on Feb 1.

On that day, the prime minister will unveil the second volume of “Secret Document of Intelligence Branch on the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman” and a book on Hasina written by an Egyptian writer.

Bangla Academy Director General Habibullah Siraji said the academy will choose at least five books daily from the book fair. Later, the writers will be brought for the first time to a corner in the academy for interactions with visitors and readers.

Besides, the DG will brief journalists on the book fair on a specific day every week.

The theme of this year’s book fair will highlight various aspects from the language movement to the liberation war.

The Bangla Academy was expected to allocate stalls to publishers by lottery on Wednesday.