MADURAI
A public interest litigation was filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday seeking an increase in the number of Tamil books in public libraries across the State.
The Division Bench of Justices M. Venugopal and S. Baskaran, hearing the petition, directed notice to the Department of School Education and the Directorate of Public Libraries.
The petitioner, advocate R. Rajaselvan, sought steps be taken to purchase law and general knowlege books in Tamil in all libraries across the State as per an earlier Government Order. According to the order at least 75% of the books should be in Tamil.
The petitioner said when he visited libraries in Madurai, Dindigul and Virudhunagar, law and general knowledge books in Tamil were not updated. The authorities were not in a position to buy the latest books as library cess, which the court had directed to be remitted to the libraries, was yet to be repaid.
A library opened in V. Boothipuram in Dindigul district under Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam was used by students to prepare for competitive examinations. However, the library had stopped functioning for the past few years.
In rainy season, the villagers used the premises to keep their cattle safe. Most of the libraries started under the scheme had almost stopped functioning, said the petitioner.
Though a representation was sent to the Education Department in this regard, no action had been taken so far. The State had the duty to protect and promote library system and provide sufficient infrastructure, said the petitioner.