Initiative to encourage reading books among kids

child-centric programmes

At a time when dependence of children on gadgets was likely to increase in the wake of the lockdown due to coronavirus or Covid-19 scare, a few organisations and individuals came together to kindle the love for reading books, among children.

Vijayendra Samskritika Balaga, supported by a few leaders, launched ‘Corona Katthaleyalli Aata Paatada Belaku’, to distribute books and desi board games to children in Mysuru. It is an initiative to encourage the habit of reading books and playing desi games among children, who got longer summer vacations due to the lockdown.

Members of the balaga distributed books and game materials to children at a few places, including Medar Block in the city. Kannada Book Authority Chairman Nandish Hanchya said, “The balaga is distributing books and game materials at a time, when children are mostly indulged in gadgets, including online classes.”

“Due to the lockdown, the children had lost physical social contacts. Too much of virtual contacts and being online for longer durations is not good for both mental and physical health,” he said.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had earlier launched ‘Makkala Vaani’, a YouTube channel for children, created by Primary and Secondary Education department.

The department aimed to reach out to children and engage them in various activities, until the reopening of schools. It has to be noted that for many children exams were not held.

Makkala Vaani had invited child-centric, educative and entertaining video and audio content from the public, to be uploaded. This channel has short videos of 5 to 6 minutes on story-telling, story reading, book reading, singing, quiz, drawing and painting, acting and magic show.

Hanchya lauded the efforts of BJP slum morcha state general secretary R Raghu, for initiating the programme.

Raghu said, “BJP general secretary B Y Vijayendra showed special interest in children and their education, besides distributing food packets and medicines to the poor across the state. Vijayendra was worried about the children’s dependence on gadgets at a time when they had more leisure. He was thinking of bringing the children back to the roots, like reading books of various genre and also playing of native games”.

“Vijayendra opined that the children would be under more stress during lockdown as it is a crisis. The real happiness of children is lost in the company of gadgets. The books we have distributed are related to our heritage and culture. We hope to extend the programme to more children of poor and middle class families. We will be happy if our initiative encourages children to grow creatively, adhering to our culture and values,” he said.

Corporator V Ramaprasad, Alanahalli Mahadevaswamy, Marballi Murthy, G Gopal, Vikram Iyengar, Apoorva Suresh, Suchindra and Srinivas Prasad are part of the programme.