The Federation of Indian Publishers organised the 35th competition for Awards for Excellence in Book Production in respect of books published in India during 2014-2015. The Awards were given at a solemn ceremony held on 4 September 2015 during the Delhi Book Fair. Shri Baldeo Bhai Sharma, Chairman, National Book Trust, India, New Delhi, was the Chief Guest at the ceremony. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Baldeo Bhai Sharma, complimented the Federation for instituting awards in different categories, given to publishers to encourage and motivate them to improve the quality of production of books. Shri Sharma added that he was very happy to know that the Federation had been giving away Awards for Excellence in Book Production every year for the last 35 years to assess national book production standard.
Shri Baldeo Bhai Sharma said, no doubt, as a result of advancement of Science and Technology, e-books had revolutionized the reading habit and percentage of readers preferring e-books had increased considerably but he said it would neither wipe out physical books nor physical books would extinct or disappear altogether as they were our storehouses of culture, heritage and civilization. He further added that the root of our culture and publication of shastras go back to ancient time. The Rigvedas is the oldest book and this fact had been recognized and corroborated by UNESCO. He said the content of Vedas, a boundless ocean, teaming with priceless gems, and the Hindu world is like a sea and who finds its way into its bosoms gets purified. He further added it was through medium of physical books, there was an explosion of our culture. At the end, he said that books take us to a higher place where one finds the purpose of life. He advised the publisher fraternity to publish good books, suitable to readers at all level, to wipe out illiteracy. He concluded that India is a world in itself, a legacy of our rich culture and civilization which shape all things.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr. Ashok Gupta, President, FIP, informed that the Federation had been the first organization which instituted awards in different categories of books to be given to publishers to motivate and encourage them to improve the quality of production of books. The Awards for Excellence in Book Production which were given during the Delhi Book Fair had been giving away for the last 35 years.
They were benchmarks for assessing national book production standard. The President informed, the Awards which used to be restricted to only members of the Federation have now been made open to all publishers. Dr. Ashok Gupta said that it is a matter of great satisfaction that the Indian books can very well match international production standards. At the International Book Fairs, be it at Frankfurt, London, Moscow or Beijing, Indian books are displayed with pride alongside those from advanced countries. This was not so till about few years ago and the credit for this constant endeavour generally goes to the Indian publishing fraternity and particularly to each one of the recipient striving for excellence in book production.
The President informed that the Federation had received 1400 books from 86 publishers. However, the jury had selected 108 titles of 56 publishers for Awards. Out of these, 38 titles had been selected for first prize, 37 titles for second prize and 33 titles for Certificate of merit. The jury members comprised eminent personalities well-versed with different aspects of publishing. They were Prof. N.N. Sarkar, former Associate Professor of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Shri Virender Malik, Proprietor, Print and Publishing and Shri Tarun Dey, Asstt. Director (Production), NBT, India. The function was attended by approximately 175 people comprising leading publishers, authors, writers, booksellers, librarians, participants in the Delhi Book Fair and the Awardees.