Even as Indian publishers are grappling with a budgetproposal of 5 per cent customs duty on imported books, in close neighbourNepal, a 10 per cent duty on imported titles has left publishers andbooksellers reeling, with students hit badly as Kathmandu imports over 80 percent of its books from India.
A few days after the Nepal government on May 29 announced a10 per cent duty on imported books, publishers stopped picking up books at theNepal customs point in protest and have demanded roll back of the move. With notext books coming in to Nepal, the student community has been affected themost, say publishers.
“Around 80-90 per cent of books in Nepal are imported,and most of it from India. Now the students, including those in Classes 10 and11, are not getting text books on time. The National Booksellers’ andPublishers’ Association of Nepal (NBPAN) has decided not to import any books inprotest. We import 90-95 per cent of academic and text books from India,”a noted book seller in Kathmandu told IANS on phone, declining to be named.
According to Madhab Maharjan, Advisor NBPAN and owner ofMandala Book Point in Kathmandu, the 10 per cent customs duty will attractother taxes, like the cost, insurance and freight tax and other charges,further pushing up the price of imported books.
“Books all over the world are sold at the printedprice. With the customs duty and the added charges, it is going to be difficultto sell imported books to academic institutions, libraries and students,”Maharjan told IANS over phone from Kathmandu.
He said they have requested the KP Sharma Oli government toremove the tax. “We have a long tradition of importing books from India.Religious books were imported from Benaras in the 20th century. Now the importof books is restricted to New Delhi,” said Maharjan, adding that scholars,academics and experts are raising their voices in protest against the movethrough the print and social media.
The 10 per cent tax will hamper the free flow of books andalso affect the reading habit of students, says Maharjan. According to him, aNepali journalist in an article in a local daily asked Finance Minister YubaRaj Khatiwada, who is a PhD in economics, whether it was a theory of economicsto impose the customs duty on books when the need was to improve the readinghabits and culture of the people.
The reason for stopping the books at the customs point wasbecause “as soon as we import we will have to increase the price, andsecondly the old stocks have to be sold at the old price”.
“Thus there will be two prices of the book in one bookstore. This will create misunderstanding with students, readers, scholars,researchers and academics at large with whom we have to deal witheveryday,” Maharjan said.
He added: “We do not want any one taking undueadvantage of the situation, including politically motivating the students. Thuswe have opted for this move not to import books till we come to a finaldecision.”
According to him, the onset of the digital era has hit booksellers and publishers. “There are not many book shops left, and withmoves like this book sellers may not survive for long.”
Many Nepali publishers print their books in India andearlier would have to pay 15 per cent tax. “Now they are asked to pay 10per cent duty on total imports. The earlier system was better to protect thelocal industry,” Maharjan said.
The number of students pursuing higher education in Nepalunder Management, Humanities, Science and Education stands at around 400,000,and they would be directly hit by the duty on books imported from India.
According to Maharjan if India revokes the 5% duty onimported books the move “may help to revoke 10 per cent duty in Nepaltoo”.
K.P.R. Nair, Managing Director Konark Publishers in Delhi,said Indian publishers are aware of the situation in Nepal and are trying tohelp. “They have asked for our help, and we are going to help them,”Nair, a veteran in the publishing industry,” said.