Gorakhpur Book Festival 2025: CM Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the book festival in Gorakhpur. Appealed to children to invest their time in good books instead of smartphones. Yogi said- Dependence on smartphones is increasing depression among the youth.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday inaugurated the Gorakhpur Book Festival 2025 organized at the Deendayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University (DDU) campus. This book fair will run from 1 to 9 November. The program has been organized under the joint aegis of National Book Trust (NBT) and DDU University. On the occasion of the inauguration, the Chief Minister distributed books to the children and also interacted with the school students. The Chief Minister said that good books are the best guide and true companion of a person. Referring to India’s listening tradition and Guru-disciple tradition, he said that our sages developed a wonderful tradition of recording the knowledge and passing it on to the coming generations.
The country progresses only when citizens read.
He said that this book festival will provide a great opportunity to the people of Gorakhpur and Eastern Uttar Pradesh to buy books of their interest through more than 200 stalls for the coming 9 days. Referring to the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister said that PM Modi always says ‘When citizens, the country leads’ i.e. when citizens study, only then the country moves forward. CM Yogi said that the land of Gorakhpur is also special because for the last 100 years, Geeta Press has been spreading the ideology of Sanatan Dharma in India and the world through its books. He met litterateurs Firaq Gorakhpuri, Munshi Premchand, Prof. Remembered writers like Vishwanath Tripathi and recently paid tribute to the late litterateur Shriram Daras Mishra.
Double engine government is laying a network of libraries across the state.
The Chief Minister said that books always give new inspiration. We should join them. Many discussions, discussions, book releases and cultural programs will take place here in the next 9 days. All the institutions of the city should participate in this along with Gorakhpur University. He said that the double engine government is laying a network of libraries across the state. Libraries have been established along with village secretariats in 57,600 gram panchayats of the state. Out of more than 1.56 lakh primary schools, 1.36 lakh schools have been rejuvenated, in which libraries and digital libraries have been provided so that the culture of reading can be developed among the children.
Dependence on smartphones is increasing depression among youth
The Chief Minister appealed to the youth not to waste unnecessary time on smartphones and make good use of their time in studying books. He said that dependence on smartphones is increasing depression and disorientation among the youth. Prime Minister Modi’s book Exam Warriors is a useful guide for students. Every student should read it. Yogi Adityanath said that good books not only help in exams but also give guidance in difficult times of life. We get knowledge and inspiration from books related to religious, environmental, technological and AI. He said that we all should reduce spending on smartphones and invest in books.
At the end of the program, the Chief Minister said that today is Devotthan Ekadashi, this auspicious occasion is a symbol of the grace of Lord Vishnu. The book festival has started on this auspicious day, this is a good sign for the entire state.
Chief Minister honored children and Anganwadi sisters
The Chief Minister honored Anganwadi didis in the program. In this, Nisha, Chinta, Premlata, Pushpa, Bindravati were honored by the Chief Minister by presenting them books. The winning children were honored in the competition organized by NBT and DDU. In this, Shrija Sharan, Abhay Verma, Rashmika Dubey, Aadesh Kunwar Singh, Divya Vishwakarma, Shivam Kumar Gupta, Toshika Chauhan, Shivangi Pandey, Nilay Kumar, Abhishek Singh, Devanand Gupta and Ayush Kishore were honored by the Chief Minister.
On this occasion, MP Ravikishan Shukla, MLAs Vipin Singh, Pradeep Shukla, Shriram Chauhan, Shravan Nishad, Vimlesh Paswan, Women Commission Vice Chairman Charu Chaudhary, DDU Vice Chancellor Prof Poonam Tandon, Avnish Awasthi, NBT Chairman Miland Sudharak Marathe, Yuvraj Malik, Acharya Pawan Tripathi and other dignitaries were present.