Demonetisation seems to be among the major reasons that have affected sale of books in the 82nd all India Kannada Sahitya Sammelan in Raichur.
Many booksellers complained that the note swap and the following cash crunch had dimmed their transactions. Of the 400 bookstall owners at the sammelan grounds, only around 25 had point of sale machines or web-based money transfer facilities. But their transactions suffered due to frequent interruption in internet connectivity due to the heavy air wave traffic, caused by mobile phone use by thousands of sammelan delegates and visitors at the same time.
Basavaraj Soolibhavi of Ladai Publications said that this was his worst year in business. “I have been setting up stalls in sammelans for the last 15 years. I have never faced such low sales,” he said.
According to him, book lovers were forced to postpone buying as they did not have cash.
Janardhana Rao of Nava Karnataka Publications said that sales were down by 20-30 per cent. “A lot of people walk into the store to have a look at books. But they don’t buy. Most say they have no change. Some give us Rs. 2,000 notes and ask for books of Rs. 100 or Rs. 200. That strains us,” he said.
Chand Pasha of Shanti Prakashana said that they had sold books worth Rs. 30,000, a figure that was “significantly lesser” than that of the Shravanabelagola sammelan.
He felt that the general lack of reading habits among the younger generation and a desire for pop psychology and do it yourself books was also affecting the sales of serious books.
Large publishers such as Sapna publications said that they were using POS machines. “We have been having the problem of low network connectivity. However, some people who had come to the stalls on the first day, came back with new currency to buy books the next day. We had anticipated the problem and brought along loose change,” S. Dodde Gowda said. Though they have sold books worth Rs. 3 lakh, Mr. Dodde Gowda said that it was lesser than earlier occasions.
Basavaraj Ballur, writer, said that he had withdrawn Rs. 2,000 from the bank before coming to the sammelan. “I wanted to buy some books for my son and wife and there are a lot on offer here. But I cannot afford to spend money on them,” he said. “When I was in college, I could not buy the books I wanted, as I had no money. But now, I have a job and I am earning quite well. But my money is stuck in bank,” said Nagabhushan T., a faculty member from Tumkur University.
