TGT Correspondent
New Delhi, September 2
India’s Parliamentary Library is going have Nepali books in its repository very soon. Mr. Raju Bista, Lok Sabha MP from Darjeeling, handed over a list of over 400 books to Speaker Om Birma on Tuesday. MP Bista, in a press note released to the social media said, the books include literary works from Darjeeling Hills, Tarai, and Dooars, Sikkim and rest of North East into the Parliamentary Library. “In total, I have been able to curate a list of around 400 books, including 260 Nepali language books, that are yet to find their place in the Parliamentary Library. As the repository of our nation’s historical and current records, the Parliamentary Library is a treasure trove of knowledge and information. It caters, not only to the citizens of India, but attracts considerable scholastic attention from international scholars too. Having a section dedicated to our region in the Parliamentary Library, is a dream I hope to fulfill in my tenure,” MP Bista said.
“Tragically the diversity of history, people, culture, traditions, and significance of our region towards our nation is not well understood nationally. This lack of awareness has left the region deprived, and the diversity of people and culture from here has gone underrepresented in the national milieu for a long time,” he further said. According to him, and literature are important channels for intellectual exchanges and developing mutual understanding and create awareness of a nation’s rich culture amongst the citizen.
It may be noted that India has recognized Nepali as one of its national languages through an amendment of the 8th schedule of its constitution in 1992, and as of today, India is home to 1.5 Indian Gorkha citizens living in different states of the country.