WhitherPublicLibrariesinHyderabadandTelanganaState?

TelanganawaspartofNizamsHyderabadStatetill17September1948,forover200years(1724
1948)ruledbyAsifJhaisandpriortothatitwasunderKutubShairuleforover200years(15181687)
andpriortothatunderKakatiyarule(9561323).TillrecentlyunderAndhrarulefor57years(1956
2014).ItisinterestingtonotethatduringMuslimruleof500yearsand57yearsofAndhrarule,
Telanganapeoplehavefoughtrelentlesslyfortheiridentityi.e.language,literature,culture,education
andselfrule.
Inthiscontext,thelibrarymovementinTelanganahastobeseenaspartoftheidentitystruggleagainst
rulers.Tounderstanditbetter,onecanchroniclethemovementinthefollowingbroadperiods.
19001930(Foundationyears)
EstablishmentofSriKrishnaDevarayaAndhraBhashaNilayamHyderabadin1901byKommaraju
LaxmanRao(diwanofMunagala),NayaniVenkataRangaRao(RajaofMunagala),RavichettuRangaRao,
MunasabofHyderabad,SrirajarajaAndhraBhashaNilayam1904inHanmkonda,KLaxmanRao
establishedVignyanaChandrikaGrandhaMandaliforPublicationsin1906,AndhraJanaKendraSangam
in1921andsubsequentlyAndhraMahaSabha.AndhraMahaSabhaconferencesatWarangal,
Nalgonda,Madhira,Suryapet,jogipet,Devrakonda,Suryapet,Morethan100librariesinTelangana,
bookspublishedetc.Prominentpersonalitiesinvolved:MadapatiHanmanthRao,BurgulaRamakrishna
Rao,SuravaramPratapReddy,KVRangaReddy,KalojiNarayanRao,KodatiNarayanRao,Vattikota
Alwarswamy.
19311939(Consolidationyears)
FormationofAndhraSaraswatParishad,HyderabadStateCongress(AndhraMahaSabhamerged),
Vishalandramahasabha.LibrarymovementwasstrongerinNalgonda,Warangal,andKhammamfor
variousreasons)
19401952(Disturbingyears)
TelanganaArmedPeasantStruggle(identitystruggletoclassstruggle)
19521980(Modernyears)
1955HyderabadstatepublicLibrariesAct,1960AndhraPradeshPublicLibrariesAct
MergerofTelanganawithAndhrain1956.AyyankiVenkataRamanayya,GadicharlaHarisarwothama
Rao,VavilalaGoplaKrishnaiahwereprominentfiguresfromAndhraregionwhoplayedakeyrole.
19812014(Decliningyears).
CurrentscenarioinTelangana.
OneStateCentralLibraryinHyderabad(inpatheticcondition)

CityCentralLibrary,HyderabadpartofHyderabadGrandhalayaSamsthawith86BLs,OneRLat
WarangalandoneatNizamabad,Ninedistrictlibrarieswith562BLs,165VLs.During1900sliteracyrate
wasaround3%,during1960sitwas22%andin201167%
ThepresentgovernmenthasagrandvisionandplansforHyderabadandTelanaganasuchassmart
cities,WiFienabledcities,citizenservicesandcharter,moderntransportationsystems,
entertainmentandthemeparksetc.Unfortunately,publiclibrariesdonotfigureintheschemes
ofTgovernment.Onereallydoesnotknowwhethertheyhaveforgottenornotapriority?Itis
anearnestappealtothegovernmentofTelanganatogivetopprioritytopubliclibrariesasthey
aremorerelevantandneedofthehour.Onecannotbuildordevelopaknowledgesociety
withoutaproperpubliclibrarysystem.
ItisevenmoresadandabsurdthatourneighboringChiefMinisterofAndhraPradeshhasalsogrand
plansforthenewcapitalcity(Tulluru)andpubliclibrariesdoesnotfigureintheirgameplan.Singapore
istheirmodelcityStateforthenewAndhra,severalministersandofficialsvisitedSingaporemanytimes
inthepast8monthsandnonethemhaveanideaoflibraries.Oneofthekeyministersrunsachainof
ChinacollegesinTelanganaandAndhrawherenolibrariesexist.Godonlyknowswhatwillhappento
thenewcapitalofAndhra.Forourreadersinformation,TheSingaporeNationalLibraryisamodel
publicLibrarysystemintheworld.Pleasenotethispointandincorporatepubliclibrarysysteminyour
newcapitalandrestoftheAndhra.
SadSituationinHyderabad
TwincitiesofHyderabadandSecunderabadhaveapopulationof10million(onecore)whichis1/3of
thestatepopulation.InthestateofTelanganatherearemorethan60lakhstudentsfromKGPG,
another60lakhpeoplebetweentheageof2545andeducated,workingetc.Andthereareanother30
lakheducatedpeoplewhoareover60years.Educatedwomenarearound20lakhsexcludingtheabove
mentionedcategories.Allthesecategoriesputtogetherwillbearound2/3populationofthestate.
Sincetherearenolibraries,peoplearegoingtemplesandBabas!.Therearemorethan1000wineshops
andbarsandrestaurantsInHyderabadcity!Ontheotherside,oneStateCentralLibrary(AsifiaLibrary),
aCityCentralLibrary(CCLChikkadpally)withsocalled85BranchLibraries(BLs)runbytheHyderabad
CityGrandhalayaSamstha(HCGS)whichareinpatheticcondition.
TheHyderabadStatewasthesecondstatetoenactapubliclibraryactin1955andthefirstbeingwas
theMadrasStateandsalutetothosevisionaryleadersandtheyknewthevalueofpubliclibraries.When
TelanaganawasmergedwithAndhraStatetobecomeAndhraPradeshin1956,theAndhraPradesh
AssemblyenactedaPublicLibraryActin1960onthemodelsofMadrasandHyderabadstatesandcalled
asAndhraPradeshPublicLibrariesAct.Aspertheact,municipalcorporations,municipalitiesandgram
panchayatsshouldlevyasurchargetaxcalledLibraryCessoutofpropertytaxcollectedinrespective
areas.I.e.Everyrupeecollectedaspropertytax,eightpaiseshallbepaidtorespectivedistrict
GrandhalayaSamsthaaslibrarycess.Thismoneywillfinancetobuylibrarybooks,journals,
infrastructureetc.

GHMC(GraterHyderabadMunicipalCorporation)isnotpayinglibrarycesstotheHCGSformorethan
10years.OnecanvisitanyofthelibrariesrunbytheHCGSincludingtheCityCentralLibraryat
Chikkadpallytoseethestatusandfunctioningoflibraries.Aimofpubliclibrariesistoprovidefree
accesstopublicirrespectiveofage,caste,religion,genderforentertainmentandleisure,information
seeking,knowledgedevelopment,asafeplaceforsocializing.ThiscanbeseeninEuropeancountries,
NorthAmerica,Singaporeetc.,Publiclibraryispartofthecommunity,andifitdoesnotworkforevena
day,theywillbeahueandcryintheparliament.Thinkaboutourcountryandstate,whatashame!?
ThepresentstateofaffairsofpubliclibrariesinTelanganahastwodimensions.Oneis,lackofpolitical
vision,publicpolicyandlackofcivilsocietypressureandtheotherislackofleadership,professionalism,
corruptpracticesinrunningpubliclibraries.Twodimensionsarecomplimentaryandsupplementaryand
theresultisthecurrentscenarioinTelanganapubliclibraries.ThePubliclibrarysystemisapolitically
neutralsubjectandeventhenpoliticshaveenteredintoit.Nowthat,ourowngovernmenthascometo
power(selfrule)butunfortunatelysofarwehavenotseenorheardanythingaboutpubliclibrariesin
Telanganainthegovernmentpolicydocuments.
ThewriterofthisessayfiledaRTIapplicationwithGHMCtofindoutwhatisthelibrarycesscollected
fromyear2003to2013/14andhowmuchtheypaidtoHCGSsofar.Theyhavegivendatafrom2006to
2014/14.ThetotalpropertytaxcollectedduringtheperiodwasRs4247.57croreandtheLibraryCess
shareRs339.80andtheyhavesofarpaidRs38.10crore(videLrNoF/A1/F&A/GHMC/201314dt01
2015).ThismeansthatGHMCisyettopayRs331.10croretoHCGS.Thiscesstobepaidasperthe
LibraryAct1960.Thesameisapplicabletoallmunicipalcorporations,municipalitiesand
Grampanchayatsinthestate.Theimportantpointisthatthismoneyiscollectedfrompublicandnot
fromthegovernmentandthegovernmentshouldgiveamatchinggranttostrengthenfurther.
TheGHMCinitsbudgetfor2015/16earmarkedRs25croreforelibrariesandsubsequentlyinvited
applicationsfor1000librariesinGHMCareafromNGOsandassociations.TheGHMCCommissionerand
SpecialOfficerhavetoclarifywhetherRs25croreisfromGHMCbudgetorfromLibrarycess.Ifitisfrom
GHMCbudgetitiswelcomeifnotitisabigproblem.TheGHMCormunicipalcorporationsor
Panchayatshavenopowerorjurisdictiononlibrarycessexceptcollectionofthetaxandtransferto
HCGSorrespectiveZillaGrandhalayaSamsthas.WithanannuallibrarycessofRs80croreonecanrun
excellentmodernlibrariesinGHMCjurisdiction.Similarly,thestatecanrunanexcellentpubliclibrary
system.ThenewgovernmentalsoshouldamendthePublicLibraryAct1960keepinginthelatest
developments.
ThereareseverallibraryinitiativesrunbyNGOsinTelangana.OnesuchinitiativeisRuralLibrary
FoundationrunbyTelanganaNRIsandtheyhavealreadyestablishedover40schoolandvillagelibraries
infivedistrictsofTelanganaandexpandingthisyeartootherdistricts.AnotheroneistheBREADSociety
whichisestablishingschoollibrariesinTelanganaandAnhdra.

ThepresentTelanganaGovernmenthastogivetopprioritytopubliclibrariesinthestatewithaclear
cutpolicytobuildaknowledgesocietyandsimilartoMissionKakatiya(GolusukattuCheruvule),we
needamissionforpubliclibrariesMissionVattikota(inthenameofVattikotaAlwarSwamy)andwe
needGolusukattuGrandhayalas.WeneedtorevivelibrarieslikerevivingCheruvulu.Irequestallcivil
societyorganizationsandNGOsandindividualstowritetothegovernmentforaVattikotaMission
(LibrariesforAll).
MissionKakatiyafeedslandsandMissionVattikota(LibrariesforAll)feedsthemindsofpeopleof
Telangana.
WrittenbyKSudhakarGoud,FormerHead,BritishCouncilLibrary,HyderabadandPresident,Rural
LibraryFoundation
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