Overview

• At the inauguration, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister called on children to cut smartphone use and focus on creative, knowledge-building books.
• He presented schoolchildren with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s book Exam Warriors and gifted books to schoolgirls and Anganwadi workers.
• He appealed to students across Lucknow to attend the festival and purchase at least one book.
• He framed reading as part of India’s knowledge tradition, citing Yajnavalkya, Takshashila, Panini and Sushruta.
• Officials and cultural figures present included Yogendra Upadhyay, Awanish Awasthi, Milind Sudhakar Marathe, Manuka Khanna, Chandra Prakash Dwivedi and Yuvraj Malik.