International Kolkata Book Fair wary of demonetization woes

Wary of the impact of demonetization, organisers of the International Kolkata Book Fair 2016 have requested the State Bank of India (SBI) to provide ATM counters inside the fair premises. The Publishers and Booksellers Guild has also asked individual publishers to provide PayTM facilities at their stall to help book lovers buy books without any hassle. 

“Following demonetization, we have come up with these initiatives of providing PayTM facilities and ATM counters inside the premises. I also met Partha Pratim Sengupta, Chief General Manager of State Bank of India, to discuss the issue of ATM counters. Buyers may not have enough cash so these initiatives will come handy,” said Tridib Chatterjee, Honorary General Secretary of the guild. 

The Publishers guild expressed concern that book sales could drop considerably following the demonetization move. 

"Book publishers pay their labourers in cash. With the cash crunch, it has directly impacted the printing of books. We apprehend that demonetization might impact our sales this year too," added Chatterjee. 

The 41st edition of the International Kolkata Book Fair will begin on January 25 and go on till February 5. The 12-day long book fair will have Costa Rica as a focal country and will also have Russia as a special participant.