“We have been asking the authorities to make provisions for them, but they have done nothing. For the last two years, we wrote to the book sellers’ guild and this year, we were told that they had asked the stall owners to make special provisions. The stall owners, however, said that the guild authorities had not informed them of the same,” said Sujata Parikh, president, Disabled Activists Forum.

Interestingly, while most foreign stalls had made the said provisions, stalls set up by Indian companies and publishers have left the specially-abled wanting.

“Not only the stalls, even the pathway is a mess and it is often difficult to walk since the road is uneven. It is a pity that despite the country being a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), no provision is made for them,” said Parikh.

The organisers, meanwhile, faced another day contending electricity problems even as CESC officials said they are not responsible for the shortage.

“The problem is not related to the CESC. We have installed a permanent 1.5 MV supply line in the area for an uninterrupted supply to the venue. However, we can only supply till the meter box after which it is managed by the Milan Mela ground authorities,” said a CESC official adding: “The light failure is an internal failure of ground authorities.”

On display, the Mongolian way of life

Centred between the Mexico theme stall and the German stall, there is the Mongolian stall designed to ‘introduce the Mongolian way of life’ to Kolkatans at the book fair.

“This is the first time we are participating in a book fair in this country and we wanted to introduce the people of Kolkata to our culture,” said Betty Battsetseg B, managing director of the Mongolian Publishing House, Bolor Sudar.

At one corner of the stall is a heap of pouch-shaped key chains.

“They are considered lucky,” said Betty. There are other souvenirs, too, like leather bottle holders and miniature models of a typical Mongol home. For those who want a rudimentary course in Mongolian (the language) there are cassettes for beginners course to the language, too.