Publishers participating in the Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2021 feared huge loss as their sales went down at the sharp decrease of visitors after a sudden rise of COVID-19 infection cases in Bangladesh.
They called on the fair organisers to compensate them or waive the stall allocation fees. This year, 540 publishing houses and organisations are participating in the fair.
In the face of soaring infection rate, the government on March 29 issued 18-point directives including running all offices and factories with half of the manpower to contain the spread of novel coronavirus. The fair organisers also curtailed the daily hours by three hours and a half from March 31.
The fair now remains open from 3:00pm to 6:30pm instead of 3:00pm to 8:00pm on weekdays to reduce the crowd. On weekends, the book fair would remain open from 11:00am to 6:30pm.
“Obviously, there will be economic loss this year. Bangla Academy’s decision to cut the daily hours of the fair will surely hamper our business. We are already communicating with the authorities concerned to restore the previous fair schedule,” Md Afzal Hossain, publisher of Anindya Prokash told The Business Post.
“I have invested Tk 7 lakh to build the stall and required to pay Tk 2.50 lakh as salary to 16 sales executives I have hired only for this fair. The sales worry me of losses as Bangla Academy has curtailed the fair hours. It would push down the sales further,” said Afzal Hossain.
He requested the prime minister to intervene and restore the previous schedule of the book fair.
Shahadat Hossain, publisher of Annesha Prokashan, said that the Bangla Academy’s decision to curtail the fair hours shocked them. “We have talked to the Bangla Academy officials over the matter and expect that they would consider our grounds,” he said.
“The sharp fall in visitors’ turnout to the fair fearing COVID-19 frustrates me. I don’t know how I will overcome this loss,” said Amin Khan, publisher, Akkhar Prokashani. He also attributed closure of academic institutions to the poor turnout.
The month-long fair is usually held in February commemorating the 1952 Language Movement but the authorities deferred the fair by a month for the COVID-19 situation. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair-2021 sprawling both on Bangla Academy premises and Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on March 18.
Bangladesh on Thursday recorded 59 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours till 8:00am, the highest single-day death toll since the first case was reported. Besides, 6,469 positive cases were recorded during the same period, also a record.
Bangla Academy’s statistics show the combined sale at the book fair was about Tk 82 crore in 2020, Tk 77.55 crore in 2019, Tk 70.50 crore in 2018, Tk 65 crore in 2017, Tk 40.5 crore in 2016, Tk 21.95 crore in 2015, Tk 16 crore in 2014, Tk. 10.15 crore in 2013 and Tk. 26 crore in 2012.
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