AP Govt abandons public libraries

​Ongole: Thanks to the apathetic attitude of the State government after bifurcation, the fate of public libraries across the State hangs in balance. There are 4 regional libraries, 13 district libraries, 905 branch libraries, 252 village libraries, 55 mobile libraries and 1894 book deposit centers in the State currently.

These libraries function on the basis of funds got through the ‘library cess’ imposed on property tax. The municipal corporations, municipalities, nagar panchayats and panchayats in the State should remit 8 percent of the property tax collected from the citizens to the Zilla Grandhalaya Samstha, to take care of the needs and necessities of the libraries in the district.

The goal of the Grandhalaya Parishad is to establish, equip, maintain and develop an integrated comprehensive and efficient library services to the people of the State. The department of Public Libraries is the administrative head of the public library system in the State and supervises and controls the Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas.

Now, even two years after bifurcation, the State government has not established an Andhra Pradesh Grandhalaya Parishad and State Central Library.

As such, there is no governing body to collect the library cess and remit it to the district libraries. In the absence of a governing body, many Zilla Grandhalaya Samsthas are yet to get to get new chairmen. As the district library committees are not available, the secretaries of the respective libraries are unable to take even minor decisions like including a ‘new daily’ in the catalogue or repairing the mobile libraries.

Local bodies have been completely ignoring repeated requests from library secretaries and district panchayat officers to remit the library cess. The municipalities in Prakasam district, for example, had collected property-tax of Rs 13.18 crore for 2016-17 of which they should remit Rs 1.35 crore to the Zilla Grandhalaya Samstha. But only the Ongole municipal corporation had paid its share of Rs 0.34 crore to the Samstha.

According to Ch Venkata Rao, secretary of the Prakasam Zilla Grandhalaya Samstha, the library cess was automatically remitted to the account of the library when property-tax was collected at the Mee Seva centres until March 2016. But that particular procedure has been done away with from April. The total tax is now being paid to the local bodies and the libraries are at their mercy for receiving their fair due, said Venkat Rao.

Many gram panchayats in the district haven’t remitted a single paisa to the libraries since their inception. “The ‘cheque-issuing authority is with the sarpanches. They question the need to pay library-cess when there exists no library in their villages,” said NSSV Prasad, District Panchayat Officer.

The library department is dependent on the cess for maintenance and salaries of staff and contract staff in the libraries. When the tax collected is more in the district, the libraries gets more funds and thus can plan expansion of services.“The libraries in the state are in a pathetic condition. They do not have funds as the local bodies are not remitting their due share.

There is growing demand for books and staff from the libraries in the State, but we are unable to take a decision on the matter. As there is no Grandhalaya Parishad constituted in the State, there is no official person available to discuss the issue with and see that appropriate action is taken in this regard,” said P Veera Babu, deputy director of public libraries.