Union govt looks to move libraries from State to Concurrent List; Kerala, Karnataka flag concerns
KA Shaji | 7 August 2023 | The South First
The Navakerala Library at Mayyil in Kannur, Kerala which was renovated by using savings of a homemaker.
(KA Shaji/South First)
Kerala is concerned over a Union government plan to bring libraries across the country under the Concurrent List — or List III — of the Indian Constitution. Many in the state view the move as a part of a wider agenda to interfere in the functioning of libraries and spread the Sangh Parivar ideology.
“They can regulate funds and grants from national institutions like Rajaram Mohan Roy Library Foundation to state councils of libraries and individual libraries,” Secretary of the Kerala Library Council VK Madhu said.
The Union Ministry of Culture is likely to introduce a Bill in Parliament to bring libraries under the Concurrent List, where the Union government and states have equal jurisdiction. Education is already under the Concurrent List.
“If such a law is enacted, we will be compelled to buy books spreading Sangh Parivar’s ideology,” Madhu further said. “Books on scientific thought and rational thinking would be removed from the priority list. Regressive books would replace them, and the future generations would suffer,” he told South First.