The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Indians 'world's biggest readers'

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Affiliation
BBC News
Summary

This article describes NOP World Survey findings indicating that Indians read
more than citizens of any of the other 29 countries surveyed. Indians
over age 13 were found to read an average of 10.7 hours a week, compared to a global average
of 6.5 and a low for the survey of only 3.1 hours a week in South Korea.



The article quotes R Sriram of India's Crosswords Bookstores as theorising that the Indian cultural
emphasis on reading may play a role, as may cultural changes which lead people to seek advice from
books rather than parents or grandparents. Tarun Tejpal, however, is quoted as saying the figures
make sense only if the large number of illiterate Indians were excluded from the study.



The author also suggests that Indians high reading rate may have helped push down their television viewing
hours, which were reported at only 13.3 hours per week, compared to the
Argentinean high of 22.4 hours.

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BBC
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 09/11/2006 - 07:01 Permalink

India is a country with a great past with a lot of scriptures and books written by eminent scholars. Veda was called as Sruti as it was remembered by listening from generations. This had helped the precious words of experience through ages. Indians then had a practice of reading Bhagavat Geeta in the village every evening in a common place.
Recitation of stories as an important part of any ritual shows the importance of reading books. The books are sold in less numbers than western countries as many people in the country can ill afford to purchase books. But even illiterate persons listen to the texts of the book read out in the village. Public libraries have been a great subject of interest. Looking at the particular need of the time, if more and more libraries are opened in the rural areas the book lovers could get the real chance to reach the thoughts of the writer.
Ch.Santakar, Journalist, Koraput, Orissa, India