Realising the extraordinary psychological, social, economic and cultural significance of Corona Pandemic for the human society in times to come, National Book Trust, India, the national body for book publishing and book promotion under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, is launching a publishing series titled ‘Corona Studies Series’ to document and to provide relevant reading materials for all age-groups for the post-Corona readership needs. “In response to the national crisis of this proportion, we believe that as a national institution it is our duty to take initiatives within our domain area to provide support in the form of new reading materials. The ‘Corona Studies Series’seeks to be our long-term contribution to prepare and engage readers with the various aspects of the Corona times by bringing out affordable books in various Indian languages in the identified subject areas. It will also provide suitable platform to authors and researchers willing to contribute in this genre,” saidProf.Govind Prasad Sharma, Chairman, National Book Trust, India.

 “We have been closely following the Corona-related developments and taking cues from the multi-dimensional initiatives of our parent Ministry of HRD’s(Government of India) initiatives to meet the challenges of the Corona Pandemic. As a body for reading promotion, we find that we have a significant role to play. Accordingly, we started #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks initiatives by uploading pdfs of some of our select and bestselling titles for free downloads, and we have been receiving tremendous response. Taking a comprehensive view, we are launching this publishing series. As the first step, we have set-up a Study Group comprising of someexperienced and young psychologists/counsellors to prepare books on the sub-series on ‘Psycho-Social Impact of Corona Pandemic and the Ways to Cope’. We hope to bring out both e-editions and printed editions of these books soon enough as support materials for the readers”, said Shri Yuvraj Malik, Director, National Book Trust, India.

“We have identified various areas for preparing suitable reading materials under the ‘Corona Studies Series’. Besides, the sub-series on the Psycho-Social Impact on various segment of population due to Corona crisis, we are preparing children’s books to let them know about Our Corona Warriors, and other story and picture books related to various aspects of Corona to create awareness. Also, books focused on art, literature, folklore, economic and sociological aspects, science/health awareness emerging out of the Corona pandemic, and the lockdown, are also in the pipeline”, said Shri Kumar Vikram, Senior Editor of National Book Trust, India, who is leading the Project.

The NBT Study Group comprises of Dr.JitenderNagpal, Dr.Harsheeta, Sq. Ldr (Rtd.) Meena Arora, Lt. Col. TarunUppal, Mrs. Rekha Chauhan, Mrs. Sonie Sidhu and Ms. Aparajita Dixit.

Books for the following segments will be prepared by the Study Group:

1. Corona Virus (Covid 19) Affected Families : Lead Researchers-- Sq. Leader (Rtd.) Meena Arora and Dr.Harsheeta, 2. Elderly People : Lead Researcher--Dr.JitenderNagpal and Ms. Aparajita Dixit, 3. Parents with Special Focus on Mothers/Women :Lead Researchers -- Lt. Col. TarunUppal and Mrs. Sonie Sidhu, 4. Children and Adolescents : Lead Researchers --Ms. Aparajita Dixit and Mrs. Rekha Chauhan, 5. Professionals and Workers : Lead Researchers --Dr.JitenderNagpal and Lt. Col. TarunUppal, 6. Corona Warriors: Medical and Essential Services Providers- Lead Researchers --Sq.Leader (Rtd.) Meena Arora and Mrs. Soni Sidhu, 7. Differently-abled, Special Needs and Mentally Challenged Population : Lead Researchers --Dr.Harsheeta and Mrs. Rekha Chauhan

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NB/AKJ/AK