Budget 2023: FM announces National Digital Library for children, adolescents

A National Digital Library for children and adolescents will be set up for facilitating the availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres and levels and device-agnostic accessibility, said FM Nirmala Sitaraman in her budget presentation in the Parliament on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced in her Budget speech setting up a National Digital Library for children and adolescents for facilitating access to quality books. The digital library will ensure the availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres, and levels, and device-agnostic accessibility.

Sitharaman further said: "States will be encouraged to set up physical libraries for them at panchayat and ward levels and provide infrastructure for accessing the National Digital Library resources." The physical libraries that will be set up at the panchayat level will ensure that children have the infrastructure to access the National Digital Library resources. This will bring books from across the globe to their access.

The National Digital Library of India is a virtual repository of learning resources that is not just a repository with search/browse facilities but provides a host of services for the learners community. It is sponsored and mentored by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, through its National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT).

It is built to provide support for all academic levels including researchers and life-long learners, all disciplines, all popular forms of access devices, and differently-abled learners. The education sector was allocated a record Rs 1,04,277.72 crore for the 2022-23 financial year.