C T Online Desk: The Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2022 will begin today on Bangla Academy premises and its adjacent Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital maintaining health guidelines.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the event at 3:00pm through video conferencing from her official residence Ganabhaban.
State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid will be present as special guest while Bangla Academy President Selina Hossain will preside over the event. Besides, Ministry of Cultural Affairs Secretary Md Abul Monsur will deliver greeting speech and Bangla Academy Director General Mohammad Nurul Huda will deliver the welcome speech.
The Bangla Academy disclosed the details of the fair at a press conference held at Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium of the academy on Monday.
This year, Bangla Academy has set the theme of the fair as “Birth Centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Golden Jubilee of Independence”.
Speaking at the press conference, Bangla Academy DG Mohammad Nurul Huda said, “After overcoming many uncertainties, we are finally going to start the book fair. I am grateful to Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who after considering everything, finally gave permission to organize the book fair.”
State Minister KM Khalid said, “Due to corona situation, the time limit of this year’s book fair has been reduced by half. The book fair will continue from February 15 to 28.We hope that if the rate of covid infection decreases, we will be able to increase the timeline for some time.”
This year the land earmarked for the fair was expanded to 7,00,000 square ft. A total of 776 units have been allocated to 534 organisations.
Of those, 142 units have been allocated to 102 organisations on the Bangla Academy premises while 634 units have been allocated to 432 organisations at the Suhrawardy Udyan.Besides.
There will be a total of 35 pavilions and 127 little magazine stalls.
The authorities said the fair will be held following health protocols and none will be allowed inside the fairground without face mask and sanitizing hands.
Besides, there will be strict security arrangements in and around the book fair venue to avert any unpleasant incident.
The fair will remain open from 2:00pm to 9:00pm from Sunday to Thursday and from 11:00am to 9:00pm on Friday and Saturday. On February 21, the book fair will continue from 8:00am to 9:00pm.
