Govt. must cut taxes on books/newsprint if serious about encouraging reading

For the past 27 years, come September, people from all over the country have flocked to the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo for the Colombo International Book Fair. The event, organised by the Sri Lanka Book Publishers’ Association, has dozens of local and international publishers taking part in it and is a much looked forward to event.

Book lovers come in their hundreds each year and use the fair to get a bargain on books. The book fair is held in time to attract school-going children/their parents, who get to buy educational books and stationery at a reduced price.

However, those who have been regulars at the book fair know that prices have been going up at such a rate that now, for many, buying anything more than two to three books is a big burden on their wallets.

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who declared open the book fair this year, said the Government is focusing on revising the Value-added Tax (VAT) imposed on books through the upcoming Budget, adding that the Government recognises the value of books.

The fact is that successive Governments have promised to cut the taxes on imported books, but it has not happened so far. Even Indian subcontinent editions sold here are sold at about five times the price in India. In addition to that, for readers who want to get books online, the taxes are massive, thus discouraging anyone from getting books. Even locally printed books are sold at high prices, and when people are trying to make their rupee go a long way, putting down money on a book can be a luxury.

In a time of growing dependency on technology, over-reliance on mobile phones and hours spent on social media platforms, books are being neglected, but the high cost of printed material isn’t helping. For a family of four, even if they are double income, buying books on a regular basis makes a big dent in their monthly budgets at a time when the cost of living is on the increase.

At a time when newspaper readership too is on the decline, with the price of printed copies too high, many have given up buying newspapers. With taxes on newsprint high and advertising in print drying up, selling a newspaper at an affordable rate cannot be expected of publishers.

Which is why these are areas where there should be tax concessions, or which should be tax-free, so that printing material can be affordable to everyone.

One way to encourage children in particular to read is to buy them books and have them at hand so they will get used to the feel of turning a page and the smell of a book, and be engrossed in it. The Government too must do more to encourage the young to read so that they can be weaned away to some extent from their dependency on electronic equipment.

Other than holding book fairs like the annual Colombo one, there should be more such opportunities at district level to encourage reading. Schools too should be encouraged to have libraries and for children to be encouraged to spend at least half an hour reading during school hours.

While there is a lot of hype around digitalisation and smart classrooms, some Western nations are going back to the basics after studies found that over-dependence on electronic equipment was leading to the decline in literacy and scores. This year Sweden announced that schools in the Scandinavian country were returning to more traditional learning methods - such as reading from physical books - after seeing their reading standards drop while iPads and laptops were used.

Reading is one good way to bring about a balance between old school teaching methods and modern technology. To ensure reading, the Government must remove taxes and make books and printed material available at affordable rates to all.