Hundreds of book lovers from across the City filed into the National College Grounds in Basavanagudi on Sunday as the three-day ‘Pustaka Parishe’ (book fair) began on a grand note.

Nearly 25 lakh books on literature, culture, education, health and religion are on display. Visitors can pick any book of their choice free of cost. The organiser of the event, Srishti Ventures, a socio-cultural organisation, expects more than two lakh visitors during the seventh edition of the Parishe.

Among the books are the works of Kannada literary giants Kuvempu and Shivaram Karanth next to acclaimed American writers Ernest Hemingway and Arthur Miller. The organisers told Deccan Herald they were getting around 60 calls from people every day, wishing to donate rare books

With the rare and old titles, the organisers have developed a library of 30,000 books. There are 1,516 dictionaries of various languages and subjects, besides 60,000 titles useful to school and college students.  Publishers and writers can sell their books on the second and third day. They expect about 150 writers and publishers. A symposium on ‘Survival of Kannada: Practical Measures’ will be conducted.

Jnanpith awardee and veteran Kannada writer Prof Chandrashekhara Kambara, who inaugurated the Parishe, urged the public to actively take part in the signature campaign launched by the Kendra Sahitya Akademi seeking mother tongue as medium of instruction in schools.

“The Akademi recently launched the campaign for which there has been a very good response in Gujarat, West Bengal, Maharashtra and other states. The campaign seeks to ensure mother tongue as the medium of instruction in schools. Everybody in Karnataka should take part in it to save Kannada and ensure it as the medium of instruction in schools,” he said.

Kambara demanded that primary and secondary education be nationalised to solve the issue of medium of instruction in schools. According to him, most regional languages, including Kannada, are struggling to survive.

The Supreme Court has held that parents have the right to choose the medium of instruction, which cannot be questioned. Hence, the only option left is to nationalise primary and secondary education, he opined.