Expensive books

This refers to the letter ‘Tax on books’ (January 31) by Kashif Mustafa Qadri. The rising prices of books have indirectly affected the culture of reading in the country. People are more averse to reading as they cannot buy new books. While it is true that book piracy is also rampant in some parts of the country, not all imported books are available in local print. Some local publishers publish bestsellers. However, not many readers are interested in reading those books as reading depends on the taste of an individual. Also, pirated books have a problem of their own. They are printed on dangerously thin paper and come with weak binding because of which they are susceptible to early damage. The government must look into this issue and abolish the customs duty on books. This step will not only encourage the already voracious readers, but also attract more people to develop a habit of book reading. If such steps are not taken, I am afraid that our coming generation will just be ‘social media literate’.Syed BadshahBuner

from The News International - Newspost http://bit.ly/2TqR1s1