On the occasion of former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s birth anniversary, October 15, the state government has urged all the schools, colleges and offices to observe ‘Vachan Prerna Divas’ (Inspire to Read Day). Claiming that technology and gadgets have almost taken over the habit of reading, the government has urged educational institutions to develop ideas and programmes to, once again, cultivate the habit of reading among youngsters. The department of higher and technical education has mooted the plan to observe ‘No gadget day’ once a month, where in students will  urged not to use any form of social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and instead, read books.

Educational institutions have also asked to organise various activities on the importance of books and conduct essay writing competitions on the eve of the birth anniversary.

Some of the suggestions were:

As part of their curriculum, colleges can plan a tour to Bhilar village in Satara district, which recently crowned as the first ‘book village of India’.

All libraries in schools and colleges could set up ‘APJ Abdul Kalam Reading Katta’, or an informal platform where students can gather and discuss books, writers and literary works.

Management of educational institutions could gift books to the guests and students on special occasions and functions, instead of presenting them with bouquets or other things.