Cairo: Squeezed among other visitors, Fawzy Hussain closely examines rows of books printed by state and private publishers. Busy hunting for certain books inside the bustling place, Hussain, 45, almost forgets about his two children, whom he has brought along to enjoy the annual Cairo Book Fair, the world’s second largest after the Frankfurt fair.
“I could not believe that all these books are available for such low prices,” Hussain, a Cairo schoolteacher, told Gulf News. “Whoever has thought of this initiative deserves to be thanked,” he adds, having just managed to lay his hands on several books on history – his field of interest and profession.
In late January, the latest edition of the fair, now in its 47th year, was launched with the Egyptian government unveiling an ambitious scheme offering books at cut prices during the two-week event.
Under the plan “A Book and a Loaf of Bread”, holders of ration cards are entitled to a discount of 90 per cent during the duration of the fair.
For years, Egypt has enforced a system of subsidised goods for its people living on limited incomes. In 2014, the government developed the system by encouraging card holders to scale down their use of heavily subsidised bread and get free food commodities in return. Bread is a staple for most of Egypt’s 90 million people, making the country one of the world’s top wheat importers.
The authorities, engaged in a relentless fight against insurgents, hope that provision of books at slashed prices to ration card holders — estimated at nearly 70 million — will help curb religious radicalism.
“This initiative aims at building a mental image linking bread and books as being two basic components of any prospective development,” Minister of Supply Khalid Hanafi said in press remarks.
The project is a joint effort of the ministries of supply and culture in conjunction with the Battana Foundation, a non-governmental cultural institution. It comes 18 years after Egypt started the “Family Library”, another government-supported cultural scheme, which was held under the auspices of Egypt’s then first lady Suzan Mubarak.
“The big interest in the “Book and a Loaf of Bread” initiative has prompted the General Book Organisation [Egypt’s biggest state publisher] and other cultural institutions to send hundreds of copies of books to us to meet needs of citizens,” said Mohammad Al Masri, an official at the pavilion designated for the project. “This initiative aims at drying up sources of terrorism through culture,” he told Gulf News.
Booths are planned to be set up at the Cairo subway and other areas in Egypt to sell books, according to Al Masri.
Egypt is struggling with economic woes deepened by years of turmoil that followed the 2011 uprising.
Prices of books have gone up in recent years in Egypt amid complaints from book lovers.
“For many months, I have not been able to buy a single book because of the rise in living costs and the high prices of books,” says Amal Mohammad, a 23-year-old engineering student. “Therefore, when I heard about this initiative from the television, I decided to come and make use of my family’s ration card to buy things other than food — books,” she said. “The initiative proves that the government is also interested in spreading cultural enlightenment.”
Since it started on January 27, nearly two million people have visited the Cairo Book Fair in the eastern suburb of Nasr City, according to local media. It ends on Wednesday.
