Revenue exceeds expectations, crosses Rs 1.27 crore

PATIALA: Punjabi University's 'pustak mela' that concluded on February 25 received a major attention from young crowd. The university in its five-day book fair was able to sell over Rs 50 lakh books against revenues of more than Rs 1.27 crore. Interestingly, the authorities had earlier anticipated to cross Rs 1 crore-mark.
The university had given 50% concession on all its publication.The discounts varied from 10% to 30%, depending on the publishers. A total of 110 stalls were setup by 84 publishers in the university.
Last year, the university had organized a three-day book-fair. The organisers sold university-published books worth Rs 30 lakh. The total sales in 2018 had crossed 50 lakh.
Students hold stalls
Besides purchasing books, many student groups had setup their stalls in the university. A total of seven different groups of students were given space to sell books in the campus. However, the participation of university professors in playing an active role in the book fair, seemed on a lower side.
Books on Guru Nanak
Given that the book fair was dedicated to Guru Nanak Dev Ji's 550th birth anniversary, the university had made a special stall for all books it had published on Guru Nanak Dev.
"On the fourth day of the event, the university sold out books worth Rs 40 lakh. Many books on the life and 'bani' (teachings) of Guru Nanak Dev ji were also sold," the organisers of the event said.
"The entire stock of book 'Mool-Mantar' (1,100 copies) were sold. Copies worth Rs 1 lakh of a book based on India-Pakistan partition 'Yadan Ganji Vaar Diyan' were sold. As many as 1,000 'Mansik Shareer De Khichau Atte Upaye' were purchased by Bargari Forum, which was set up by Bargari villagers.
Publication Bureau head and HOD Professor Sarbjinder Singh, said, "The motive behind organising the book-fair was to promote reading habits among students and youngsters. Selling books worth Rs 1.27 crore was quite impressive. The event was dedicated to Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji's 550th birth anniversary."
"Last year, two Kashmiri publishers - Qadar and Gul Mohammad - participated in the event, however, due to Pulwama terror attack they have missed the event. We used to allot space even at the last minute to publishers from outside Punjab. A few Kashmiris were interested, but they later did not apply," he added.