Mysuru: It has been made mandatory for all government officials in the district to become members of the library nearest them in order to encourage and maximise the readership in libraries

At the Zilla Panchayat review meeting held here on Thursday, deputy director of the city central library Manjunath said, “for the first time in the history of district we are able to connect the libraries in village panchayats”.

“But in order to increase the membership in the  libraries we will have to make it mandatory for the officials to register to the libraries,” he added

An official said that it would be better if the libraries incorporate government circulars as well as the gazettes. “We have also started our communication with JSS mahavidyapeetha, Infosys and many other organisations to purchase books. Today the library has gone beyond being a a bank of literature books”, he said.

Accepting the suggestion, the Zilla Panchayat decided to include the circulars of government which will add extra value of turning it into a nodal centre for information Manjunath also requested to provide land for the construction of libraries in villages and he was assured of the same by the Zilla panchayat president Dr Pushpa Amarnath.

Poor facilities in hostels
 
The president of the Zilla Panchayat, disappointed by the pathetic conditions of the hostels in he district,  said that  there are no basic facilities in the the hostels, but till now no concern has been shown towards this.   The hostel at varkodu built with an investment of Rs 10 crore has no security for the 238 students. Also it has only 132 beds. The drinking water facility in the hostel is also poor and no action has been taken till now.

The Zilla Panchayat CEO P A Gopal, deputy mayor Madhappa and many others were present.