The State government has extended assistance to establish a memorial for D.C. Kizhakkemuri, the doyen of Malayalam publishing industry, whose birth centenary was observed here on Monday.
Inaugurating the memorial meet organised jointly by Information and Public Relations Department, the district administration, Mahatma Gandhi University, National Book Trust and Kendriya Sahitya Akademi, K.C. Joseph, Minister for Culture, said D.C. Kizhakkemuri was a person who walked far ahead of his times.
At a time when the writers were being exploited by the publishers, he took the initiative to form the first writers cooperative in the world and created an atmosphere where a writer could walk with self-respect, he said.
He also contributed to the library movement in the State and banked on innovative schemes to bring in the resources for furthering the cause of libraries, he said.
Writer M.K. Sanoo delivered the DC memorial lecture. Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Minister for Forests and Transport, Jose.K. Mani, MP, K. Suresh Kurup, MLA, district panchayat president Nirmala Jimmy, Information and Public Relations Director Mini Antony and others spoke.
Babu Sebastian, Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi University, said the university would institute DC Kizhakkemuri Memorial Lecture from the next academic year.
Inaugurating the seminar on ‘Language, Literature and Publishing’ organised as part of the centenary celebrations, he said the means of publishing had undergone dramatic changes with the innovation of new-age technologies. The technology boom was expected to reshape and improve the quality of reading and entertainment, he said.
Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee, director, National Book Trust, stressed the need for a national book policy as it would go a long way in establishing a better relationship between the publishers and readers. Presently, there were about 10,000 publishers in India who bring out nearly 90,000 titles annually, he said.
