Karnataka government spend Rs 4.50 crore for Book Fair

The Karnataka State Legislature Book Fair – 2025 (or ‘Pustaka Mela’) was held at the Vidhan Souda premises in Bengaluru. It was the first time such an event was held there. Karnataka government spend Rs 4.50 crore for Book Fair.

The five-day book fair cost Rs 4.50 crore has exposed the wastefulness of the government, which claims that there is no money for development work. It has come to light that has spent unnecessarily money in the name of the book fair.

It took place for five days, generally cited as February 27 to March 3, 2025. Documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act reportedly revealed that the total expenditure for the five-day event exceeded Rs 4.50 crore.

Here is details of expenditure:

Rs 88,000 was spent for honor the guests

Rs 87,429 was spent for flight charge for guests

Rs 83,190 was spent for arranging breakfast for the dignitaries

Rs 1.56 crore was spent on the accommodation of the dignitaries arriving at the book fair

Rs 98,000 for organizing book launch, poetry gathering

Rs 98, 000 for drama performance during the book fair

Rs 21 lakh for prize distribution at the book fair.

More than 120 publishers, including state and interstate, participated in the book fair. Cultural programs were organized every day after 5 pm. The public was allowed to enter. Only 150 shops were allowed to open.

A 5-day book fair was held from Feb 27 to March 3 at the Vidhana Soudha premises. Through this, a literary fair was organized at Shakti Soudha for the first time. CM Siddaramaiah inaugurated the book fair.

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