President Pranab Kumar Mukherjee on Tuesday flagged off the 9th P N Panicker Jan Vigyan Vikas Yatra, the annual event organised by the P N Panicker Vigyan Vikas Kendra in collaboration with the State Government and other agencies.
Paying rich tributes to late P N Panicker, the father of the library movement in Kerala, the President said that the Union Government’s National Literacy Mission draws inspiration from the work and methods of Panicker. Recollecting Panicker’s pioneering role the President said that from the Travancore Library Association that he founded in 1945 with 47 rural libraries, he developed a series of similar units which had now grown into a network of 6,000 libraries and a tremendously successful movement for total literacy in Kerala.
“P N Panicker, like many of us, was driven by Gandhiji’s words that “Mass illiteracy is India’s sin and shame and must be liquidated,” the President observed. In keeping with his commitment to Gandhian ideals, Panicker also built into his programme a campaign to foster social amity and harmony, he said.
Commending the organisers of the yatra, Pranab said that they had rightly chosen a target group of farmers, unorganised labourers, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other under-privileged communities. “I understand that the participants will interact with the populations that they will cover - through a direct method of presenting concepts through street theatre. I commend them for choosing to focus on developing an interest in the youth - the leaders of tomorrow - and motivating them to think about their own individual contribution to the growth and progress of their societies,” he said.
The President congratulated the State Government for their observance of June 19, the date of the passing away of P N Panicker, as the ‘Day of Reading.’ “There could be no better way to honour the monumental contribution of Panicker to literacy and education in this God’s Own Country.”
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy welcomed the gathering. Governor H R Bharadwaj, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, Minister of State for Civil Aviation K C Venugopal, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor and LSG Minister M K Muneer attended the function.
P N Panicker Vigyan Vikas Kendra vice-chairman N Balagopal proposed a vote of thanks. The Yatra aims at discussions on participatory democracy, panchayat-centred development and awareness about the importance and significance of grama sabhas. It will cover a distance of 2,000 km in 30 days and will cover around 30 lakh citizens.