Budget 2023: National digital library to be set up for kids, adolescents, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting Budget 2023.

During her Union Budget speech, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the setting up of a national digital library for children and adolescents for facilitating the availability of quality books across the country.

"National digital library for children and adolescents will be set up for facilitating the availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres and levels, and device agnostic accessibility," Sitharaman said.

"States will be encouraged to set up libraries for them (children) at panchayat and ward levels and provide infrastructure for accessing the national digital library's sources."

"A national digital library for children and adolescents will be set-up for facilitating availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres": Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

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Additionally, to build a culture of reading, and to make up for pandemic-time learning loss, the National Book Trust, the Children's Book Trust, and other sources would be encouraged to provide and replenish non-curricular titles in regional languages and in English to physical libraries, the minister added.

"Collaboration with NGOs that work in literacy will also be a part of this initiative," Nirmala Sitharaman said. "To inculcate financial literacy, financial sector regulators and organisations will be encouraged to provide age-appropriate reading material to these libraries."

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In her budget speech, Sitharaman said the world has recognised India as a bright star as the country is recording healthy economic growth despite global uncertainties.

India's growth at 7 per cent in the current fiscal is the highest among major economies and the Indian economy is on the right track, she said.