Special Correspondent
Panaji: Urging the young generation to read books, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant Wednesday said that the joy achieved through reading of physical books cannot be experienced by reading them online.
Speaking at the Goa Book Festival 2026, Sawant said the festival will lay the foundation stone for Vikasit Bharat, further adding that education is the foundation of a strong society.
“The Goa Book Festival is a knowledge-giving festival unlike other festivals held in the city,” he said, urging parents to send their children to the book fair.
After inaugurating the mega book fair, jointly organised by the National Book Trust (NBT) and Lokmanya Cultural Foundation, at the D B Bandodkar Ground in the city, the Chief Minister assured government support to the literary event, if it becomes an annual event.
Speaking further, Sawant said that the Konkani literature generated in Goa is being developed on a large scale and would become a part of the literary stream at the national level. He also expressed happiness that regional languages are being rejuvenated due to the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020. Maintaining that the people of Goa are culturally oriented and keen followers of literature, the Chief Minister said that Goans from at least 40 to 50 villages around the state participate in the annual Wari or pilgrimage tour by foot to Pandharpur.
Chairman of NBT Milind Marathe, Secretary for Education Prasad Lolyenkar and chief patron of the book festival Kiran Thakur were present on the occasion.
Marathe said that good values are automatically imbibed by readers of good books. He also supported inculcation of reading habit right from young age. Marathe further said that the pre-condition for Vikasit Bharat is generation of readers of good books. Thakur, in his speech, said that India has an upper hand on the global level in terms of intelligence. “In olden times, the knowledge was passed from one generation to the other through recitation, and now books do the work of this knowledge transfer,” he said.
The Goa Book Festival 2026 will remain open till February 8, with over 100 book stalls exhibiting books published by around 100 publishers from 10 states.
Interaction with eminent authors, literary activities for children, music-dance-painting and food court are some of the accompanying activities at the book fair.
