The National Reading Day is annually observed across India on 19th June to encourage reading among the students across India. The day also marks the death anniversary of Puthuvayil Narayana Panicker(P.N.Panicker), who was known as “Kerala’s Father of Library Movement”.
19th June 2021, marks the celebration of the 26th National Reading Day.
- The National Reading Day, Reading Week and Reading Month is observed by the PN Panicker Foundation, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Reading Week and Reading Month:
India will celebrate June 19 to 25, the week following the National Reading Day(19th June), as Reading week and June 19th to July 18th will be celebrated as Reading Month.
- The Government of Kerala and the Government of India through NITI Aayog has entrusted the responsibility to organise the National Reading or Digital reading Month celebrations to P N Panicker Foundation and P N Panicker Vigyan Vikas Kendra.
Background:
i.The National Reading Day was started as the Reading Day in 1996 by the Government of Kerala along with the P.N. Panicker Foundation.
ii.The first National Reading Day was celebrated on 19th June 1996, the first annual remembrance day of P.N. Panicker.
Efforts of PN Panicker:
i.PN Panicker is known for the non-formal education movements like Kerala Association for Non-Formal Education and Development(KANFED) and literacy campaigns like Total Literacy 1986.
ii.He played a major role in establishing the Kerala Grandhasala Sangam (Kerala State Library Council) and served as the General Secretary of Sangham for 32 years, until 1977.
iii.Kerala Grandhasala Sangam won the “Krupsakaya Award” from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) in 1975.
iv.P N Panicker Foundation was the first organization in the country to popularize e-reading among the rural masses with an internet facility in 2002.
About P N Panicker Foundation:
P N Panicker Foundation, the mother organization of P N Panicker Vigyan Vikas Kendra was established during the 84th birth anniversary of P N Panicker under the Chairmanship of Justice V R Krishna Iyer.
Headquarters– Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
