Launch of National Digital Library of India

19th June 2018 marked a milestone in the history of education in India with the formal launch of the National Digital Library of India by Hon’ble Minister of HRD, Prakash Javadekar. Distinguished members of the panel at the event included Dr. Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, Principal Investigator of National Digital Library of India and Director IIT Kharagpur, R. Subrahmanyam, Secretary (HE) MHRD, Hon’ble Minister of Culture Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Dr. Satyapal Singh, Minister of State (HE), Dr. N. Saravana Kumar, Joint Secretary (TEL & ICC), MHRD and N. Balagopal, P N Panicker Foundation.

At the event, which was held at Vigyan Bhawan on National Reading Day and attended by eminent policy makers, library professionals, technology experts, journalists, academicians, students as well as people vested in learning and education, the Secretary (HE) MHRD, R. Subhramanyan led the opening ceremony and thanked National Digital Library of India for ‘striking alliances across the world’ through collaborating with both national and international bodies in collecting and collating metadata. The next speaker, Dr. Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, PI of NDLI, elaborated on NDLI’s achievements till date, including the library’s part in driving international copyright policy and democratizing education in India.

Hon’ble Minister of Culture Dr. Mahesh Sharma talked about National Virtual Library of India and how NDLI and NVLI together can transform the learning landscape in the country. The Minister of State (SE), Dr. Satyapal Singh encouraged all learners to take full advantage of the resources NDLI makes accessible for every Indian citizen. N. Balagopal, representing the P. N. Panicker Foundation elaborated on how every learner – from a school student to a researcher could locate academic resources from NDLI. The Hon’ble Minister of HRD, Prakash Javadekar inaugurated National Digital Library of India by cutting a digital ribbon, presented on a slide and in tune with the digital nature of the library. He spoke on NDLI’s achievements, its contents (1.7crore+ content in more than 200 languages) and revealed plans to reach 3 crore users in an effort to better disseminate education to all people. In his vote of thanks Dr. N. Saravana Kumar, Joint Secretary (TEL & ICC), thanked and congratulated the efforts of IIT Kharagpur and everyone associated in the creation of this National Knowledge and Cultural asset.

NDLI had been operating in its Pilot Phase since 2015 and after the successful completion of its set objectives, was formally launched on National Reading Day where all Indian citizens were encouraged to read, learn, share and grow.