Karachi: Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, has launched www.sindh.org, a website aimed at digitizing thousands of rare Sindhi language books on various subjects.
The digital library is part of an Institute of Sindh Studies in District Jamshoro named after renowned horticulturist, agriculturist, and irrigation expert of the province late MH Panhwar. His son, Sani Panhwar, is overseeing the project of digitising the books.
The website has already digitised over 1,000 Sindhi books on topics related to art, culture, literature, politics, religion, architecture, poetry, sociology, history, science, environment, agriculture, wildlife and environment, etc.
The website contains some Urdu and English language books as well related to Sindh and Sindhi culture and language. The website aims to digitise 3,000 books in a year.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, the CM said that his government would offer all-out support, including financial assistance, for carrying out the digitising works.
He asked the provincial Culture Minister, who also attended the ceremony, to get affiliated with the Sindh Archives Department with the digital library so to digitise rare historical documents, manuscripts, and books available with the department.
He suggested that a representative of the website should also go to London for visiting India Office Records at British Library to digitise numerous rare and historical books and documents on Sindh archived there.
Shah noted that digitising of books does not involve huge budget while in comparison such a project would prove beneficial for hundreds of thousands of people in many regions, especially youngsters
He told the audience that one of the books authored by the late scholar Panhwar on the effects of climate change on Sindh had predicted many years ago the disastrous scenario that became true in the form of devastating floods in Pakistan last year.
He said the public sector universities in the province should produce committed and qualified researchers and scientists like the late Panhwar who should do their best that the fields of agriculture and irrigation should provide maximum comfort to the downtrodden.
He lamented that universities had stopped producing as learned and dedicated graduates as was the late Panhwar.
The CM also witnessed the process of digitisation of rare Sindhi books.
