Chandigarh, November 23- Fulfilling his commitment to establish libraries in district headquarters and villages in the state Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal, today approved the project to establish Panchayat libraries under Gram Swaraj Abhiyan. In the first phase, libraries will be set up in villages under Mahagram. He said that these libraries will help individuals to not only enhance their knowledge but also develop interest in education among the youth of the state.

This decision was taken in a meeting held regarding the setting up of libraries under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister here today.

The Chief Minister directed the concerned officers that members of Panchayat should also be involved in setting up libraries in the villages. Also, a person associated with education sector or retired officer from defence belonging to the village should also be included, he added. He said that this will encourage participation of common people in government schemes. In addition, he directed that a grading system should be prepared based on the facilities provided in libraries such as computers, number of books and number of visitors to the library.

He directed that the Higher Education Department will be the nodal department for this project, which will continuously review the progress of the project. In addition survey of libraries under School Education Department, Higher Education Department or other departments, private institutions or libraries being run individually, should be conducted, he added. He also directed the officers of the School Education Department to explore the possibility of using the school library for the villagers after the schools get over and on holidays.

Information about libraries currently operating in schools and college campuses was also given by the School Education Department and Higher Education Department during the meeting. It was also informed in the meeting that libraries are being run in public places in 20 districts by the Higher Education Department. These libraries have been digitized, in which e-books are also being made available. Apart from this, books are also available in Braille script for people with disabilities.

During the meeting, Managing Director, National Book Trust, India, Lt Col Yuvraj Malik, gave a presentation on libraries and presented some books to the Chief Minister.

In the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary School Education Department, Mr. Mahavir Singh, Principal Secretary, Development and Panchayat Department, Mr. Sudhir Rajpal, Deputy Chief Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. Amit Kumar Agrawal, Director General, Higher Education Department, Mr. Ajit Balaji Joshi, Advisor in Chief Minister's Office, Mr. Yogendra Chaudhary, Mr. Rajnish and other officers were present.