Young readers reflect a country’s future, says Home Minister Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the Jayaprakash Narayan Public Library in New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area on Saturday, July 11, 2026, and said that the presence of young readers in libraries is a better measure of the future of a country than economic indicators.

Referring to the opening ceremony, the Minister of Internal Affairs said, “If you want to evaluate the future of a country, you cannot do this by looking at how prosperous its agriculture is, how crowded its markets are, how many industries it has. You can evaluate it by looking at how crowded its libraries are and whether young people are there.”

He said knowledge and wisdom form the basis of nation-building and libraries play a central role in nurturing both. “Activities that move a nation forward and bring prosperity to it are rooted in knowledge and wisdom. And this knowledge is acquired only through libraries,” Mr. Shah said.

Urging the library management to tie up with nearby schools, the Union Home Minister said that the habit of reading should be encouraged among the youth.

“My request to the librarians here is to reach out to all the schools in the 10 constituencies near the Parliament. Bring the young people here once. Books will do the rest. When a young person develops the habit of reading, he learns to distinguish between right and wrong,” he said.

Mr. Shah said the library offers access to around 32,000 books and one crore e-books and expressed hope that the Delhi government will integrate libraries in the city and connect them with schools. He also praised NDMC for naming the library after Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan.

“Narayan was a person who embraced many ideas throughout his life, but whatever ideology he worked with, he always tried to achieve perfection in that ideology,” Mr. Shah said.

Recalling Narayan’s role in the freedom struggle, Shah said that he escaped from Hazaribagh Jail during the Quit India Movement despite the danger to his life and rejoined the counter movement. British rule.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that the public library will be an important resource for students preparing for competitive exams.

“I think the opening of this library is a great gift for the people of Delhi. This will be a benefit for the youth. Those preparing for UPSC and other exams will get the study environment they need through this library,” he said. Ms Gupta also said that the city’s civil infrastructure sees improvement during the monsoon season.

“The problems that were troubling the people of Delhi are slowly coming to an end. Delhi is on its way to becoming a developed city. This time we are seeing much better drainage arrangements and minimal water logging. It is a great help for PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma and the entire government to work together,” he said.

According to NDMC, the library at Mandir Marg has been developed as a modern public reading and study centre, with a seating capacity of 200 at a time.

The civic body said the facility houses more than 30,000 books and includes an e-library section that gives members access to more than five lakh e-books and digital catalogues.

The library has a multi-purpose hall on the ground floor, library halls on the first and second floors and is equipped with elevator facilities. Officials said that they aim to offer readers both physical and digital learning resources under one roof.