NBT commissioning books that are authentic, free from individual, political biases: Chairman Marathe

Lucknow, Sep 27 (PTI) The National Book Trust (NBT) is consciously commissioning books that are free from individual and political biases, and rooted in facts for authenticity, its chairman Prof Milind Sudhakar Marathe has said.

The NBT, which functions under the Union Ministry of Education, is also working to overcome challenges in translations of works, he said.

Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the fourth edition of the Gomti Book Festival here, Marathe said young readers are "no-nonsense" and seek factual analysis rather than political claims or counter-claims.

"Unfortunately, nowadays there is a problem of a lot of misinformation. For example, in Bharat, how a digital revolution has come, but is there any authentic book about this digital revolution? When political people are talking about it, there is a probability of exaggeration if they are from the ruling party, and if they are from the opposing party, they will degrade it. So, is there any authentic book written by institutes or any prominent people who have done some work on it?" he noted.

"For example, on the digital revolution, what the National Book Trust has done is that it has given a task to IIT Kanpur, so there will not be any political bias, as IIT Kanpur will be the author. They will identify two or three faculty members and ask them to critically analyse the digital revolution in the last decade of this country. Similarly, (a book on) the impact of good governance in the last decade was given to IIM Mumbai by NBT," Marathe said.

He stressed that if one wanted to go for books that help and contribute to nation building, critical, unbiased third-party analysis has to be done, and material should reach the young crowd because their attitude is "no-nonsense".

"They (youth) don't want exaggeration, they don't want degradation, they want facts as they are, and they will say, don't preach to us; we will take our own decisions. That is the style of the young generation, so we are catering to the needs of that in some specific books," Marathe added.

The NBT chief said the Trust's motto remained quality and affordability, and its publishing choices were guided by nation-building and self-development. "Books inspire youth to align their lives with a larger social and national purpose," he added.

According to him, such work not only serves the immediate demand for authenticity among youth but also strengthens the larger cause of nation-building. "Books contribute to personal growth, and that leads to national development," Marathe said.

He further added that NBT was consciously trying to publish books "rooted in Indianness," a cultural link that had weakened during the colonial period.

On the fourth edition of the Gomti Book Festival in the state capital, Marathe described its growth as a "progressive unfoldment." From modest beginnings, the festival now combines books with art, culture, music, dance, and academic backing from Lucknow University, attracting thousands of students and teachers.

Asked about comparisons with the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), Marathe said literature segments are embedded in NBT's book festivals held across cities, and the aim is a "distributed" rather than a "grand" model.

He said JLF's legacy of 19 years and its contribution is duly acknowledged, noting that there is a difference in that festival and those organised by the NBT, which is driven by its motto of affordability and quality that is seen when it participates at the leading book fairs in New Delhi, Pune, Nagpur, or Kolkata, etc.

He also highlighted NBT's growing international presence, participation in global fairs from Frankfurt to Moscow, and translation efforts spanning 70 languages despite challenges of finding inter-regional translators.

Marathe said the Trust never represents itself abroad merely as "NBT" but always as "India" under the banner of the Bharat Pavilion.

"This year, India was invited as a guest country at the Moscow International Book Fair. That was significant because we were taking our literature internationally along with many publishers and common exhibits," he noted.

He pointed out that NBT has also been part of unique international events, including the children-focused festival in Bologna, Italy, which has been running for over six decades.

"Our NCCL ( National Centre for Children's Literature), which is part of NBT, participates there regularly," he said.

On translations, Marathe admitted that the process remains a major challenge, particularly for inter-regional Indian languages.

"It is difficult to find a person who can translate, for instance, from Bangla to Kannada directly, and who has also studied literature in those languages. Usually, books are first converted into Hindi or English, and then into another language. But in such multi-step translations, the spirit of the original literature may get diluted," he said.

For international languages such as German, Italian, or Russian, NBT receives support from Indian diaspora communities and embassies, which helps overcome the shortage of translators. At present, the Trust has 17 editors on its board of translators, he said.

Citing an example of expanding reach, Marathe said NBT recently translated 30 books into Gojri, a local dialect of Kashmir, during the Chinar Book Festival in the Valley.

"We are trying to reach readers in their own languages, even beyond the 22 scheduled languages of the Constitution," he added. PTI KIS MAN AMJ AMJ