- February 13, 2025
- Posted by: wordpress_project
- Category: Media Coverage
Millions of books for free at the click of a mouse!
Hindustan Times, Kolkata, Friday Feb 7, 2025:
The iconic Kolkata Book Fair is a star attraction of the Bengali cultural calendar and a must-visit for book lovers. This year’s draw is stall no. #317. In a sea of books, this stall is a unique exception – a stall with no books at all!
A few clicks and a world opens up!
Instead of rows of bookshelves, stall #317 features computers manned by young, enthusiastic volunteers, drawing a curious crowd. Visitors are not browsing through physical books but are instead looking for their desired titles through a few clicks. Whether you’re after study materials for competitive exams, academic research, or literary works, these volunteers are ready to help you locate your desired content. Only a few clicks can get you there.
What is the main objective of the ‘National Digital Library of India’ initiative?
According to one of the stall volunteers, ‘This is a project of the Union Ministry of Education. Through this project, a lot of content across all ages and for all educational levels are made available to those who need them the most. The objective behind this is to ‘democratize education in India’ and to learn, share and grow. To access this wealth of knowledge, all one needs is to register on the website with an email ID. ‘What is the membership fee?’ ‘Not a penny’, said one of the Project Engineers. The project has been sponsored by Govt. of India and executed by IIT Kharagpur.
What types of contents are there?
Once registered, you’ll have access to a total of eight verticals including School Education, Higher Education, Career Development, Patents and Standards, and Cultural Archives. For example, the Cultural Archives section offers a treasure trove of classic literary works, including Rabindra Rachanaboli, Sarat Rachanaboli, Bankim, and Sukanta Rachanaboli among others—many of which are no longer under copyright restrictions. In fact, this stall offers free access to a staggering 12 crore plus contents, all thanks to the National Digital Library of India. For those preparing for competitive exams, there’s a dedicated section where you can find past exam papers, syllabi, and other valuable resources.
A digital revolution for Learning, this initiative is transforming how we access and share knowledge, making a vast array of educational and literary resources easily available to everyone.