The month-long 'Amar Ekushey Book Fair-2021' will begin tomorrow (Thursday) at the Bangla Academy premises and adjacent Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year the book fair would be held from March 18 to April 14 instead of February.
State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid said a new decision would be announced if 'the Covid-19 situation deteriorates further in the country.'
"I hope that the situation won't worsen further," he said while speaking at a press conference held at Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium of Bangla Academy on Tuesday.
The main theme of the fair is: "The birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of the country's independence."
This year the book fair had been dedicated to the martyrs of 1971 Liberation War.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the fair virtually from Ganabhaban at 3:00 pm on the day and unveil a book titled 'Amar Dekha Naya Chin', authored by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and published by Bangla Academy.
At the opening ceremony, 'Bangla Academy Literary Award-2020' would also be given to the winners.
Bangla Academy Director General Habibullah Sirajee would deliver a welcome speech at the inaugural ceremony to be chaired by Bangla Academy President Prof Shamsuzzaman Khan. State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid would attend the event as the special guest.
Dr. Jalal Ahmed, member secretary of the fair organizing committee, confirmed it at the conference.
Apart from 33 pavilions, the authorities concerned had allotted 154 bookstalls to 107 organizations on the academy premises and 680 bookstalls to 433 organizations at Suhrawardy Udyan.
Dr. Jalal said, "Four information centres will be set up to carry out the fair activities-one on the west altar of Bangla Academy extension building and three others at Suhrawardy Udyan."
Police, RAB members and other law enforcement agencies would monitor the fair strictly. More than 300 CCTV cameras had already been installed to ensure the security of visitors, he added.
Additional Commissioner (crime and operations) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Krishna Pada Roy at another press briefing on Tuesday urged all to visit the fair following health guidelines.
He told reporters that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the visitors must have to wear masks and the authorities would make arrangements for washing hands on the venue of the book fair.
"There will be three-tier security system. There is no threat of sabotage or attack on publishers at the book fair. Keeping the past incidents in mind, we have beefed up our surveillance."
He added: "We are monitoring for all kinds of suspicious acts and will take appropriate action if any untoward incident takes place."
This year the little magazine corner would be set up at the Bangla Academy premises instead of Suhrawardy Udyan.
The authorities had allocated a total of 140 stalls-- 135 little mag stalls and five open stalls. The children's corner would be set up at Suhrawardy Udyan.
Like previous years, members of the Access to Information (A2I) Program under the Prime Minister's Office would help the booklovers in getting necessary information. The fair would feature seminars, discussions and cultural events.
Earlier, Bangla Academy announced the names of ten winners who would get 'Bangla Academy Literary Award-2020'.
They are Muhammad Samad (poetry), Imtiar Shamim (literary fiction), Begum Akhtar Kamal (essay/research), Sureshranjan Basak (translation), Rabiul Alam (drama), Anjir Liton (children's literature), Sahida Begum (research on Liberation War), Aparesh Bandhopaddhaya (science/fiction), Ferdousi Majumder (autobiography) and Muhammad Habibullah Pathan (folklore).
The fair would remain open from 3pm to 9pm from Sunday to Thursday and from 11am to 9pm on weekly holidays.
