Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley Monday said India
must have a formal war history for every child to read, calling for
digitisation of such books and other knowledge products in view of the
widely popular digital media.
Attending the launch of the
'India/Bharat 2015 Reference Annual', a ministry publication, Jaitley
said here that he has suggested to the defence ministry to work on this
and "I am told they are moving fast on India's war history".
"India
is one of few countries which don't have a formal documentation of our
war history," said Jaitley, who was the defence minister before Manohar
Parrikar took over.
"Last year, I was invited to a function of
100th anniversary of World War I. I started looking at details and
realised for the first time that the largest participation in the World
War was by Indians," he said.
"...12 lakh Indians fought the
battles, over 70 thousand lost their lives. A fact which may not be
known to most of the people," he said.
In view of the shift in
technology paradigms, Jaitley emphasised that books and other knowledge
products in printed form ought to be made available through digital
medium.
"The new digital medium would provide enhanced
accessibility and affordability of information to a wider audience," the
minister said in a statement.
Also present, Minister of State
for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore tweeted:
"For the first time, India reference annual will be launched in
e-version for easy accessibility and wider outreach."
Describing
the digital version of 'The making of the Constitution of India'
documentary as a fine instance of leveraging digital media for archival
purposes and preservation of knowledge, Jaitley said such digitisation
of books on India's development could serve as "useful" reference
material for the youth and to the audience worldwide.
"As a rich
repository of relevant information, 'India/Bharat 2015 Reference Annual'
would be a good addition to all the libraries," Jaitley said.
Talking
about the annual, he said: "I am sure this book will be a very good
addition to all our libraries, and particularly all details of this are
available in the digital mode from this year onward. It will be
available free of cost to the world at large to enrich itself."
The
publication deals with all aspects of development from rural to urban,
industry to infrastructure, science and technology, art and culture,
polity, economy, health, defence, education and mass communication, the
statement said.
The 59th year of publication of the reference
annual has seen an increase in its print order to 1,15,000 copies this
year up from 37,000 copies in 2007, it added.
