The Ekushey Book Fair will be extended to Mar 17, according to State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid.
At a media briefing at the Secretariat on Sunday, Khalid said he was ‘delighted’ to announce that the prime minister had agreed to extend the fair.
Although the book fair traditionally starts on the first day of February, it had to be pushed back this year as the highly-contagious omicron variant of COVID-19 triggered a surge in infections, reports bdnews24.com.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina virtually inaugurated the 38th edition of the event on 15 Feb. At the time, the fair was slated to continue until Feb 26.
However, publishers had repeatedly called for a month-long event -- a demand that was backed by the Bangla Academy authorities.
"There is a demand from publishers that the fair be allowed to continue until March as the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birthday is on Mar 17," Hasina had said during the opening ceremony.
“I think it can run for a month. But you [authorities and publishers] have to think it over. I can’t decide this for you."
COVID-19 infections across the country have been on the wane since then, prompting the decision to extend the event.
“Last year, due to the COVID situation, we had to cut the book fair short. As such, book publishers suffered some losses. This year’s book fair started late," said Khalid.
"Once the book fair started, the book publishers petitioned for it to be extended. We told them we would make a decision on the extension after considering the situation. We have now made a decision accordingly.”
