Libraries become lifeline for Manipur aspirants

In violence-hit Manipur, private libraries thrive offering job-seekers quiet places to read and surf uninterrupted internet

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

With unreliable mobile internet connection and no suitable place at home to study for competitive exams, many job aspirants in Manipur are visiting private libraries, which offer them both facilities at a low cost.

Amid the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo communities, which killed over 260 people and rendered thousands homeless in the state, these libraries have been flourishing in the last two to three years, serving the needs of job-seekers, readers and owners of these facilities said.

Unlike traditional libraries stocked with extensive academic collections, these private spaces offer magazines, study materials for competitive examinations and wi-fi internet connections and provide a calm, comfortable environment where visitors can focus on reading books they bring themselves.

Th Abemma, a government job aspirant in Imphal, was found reading books and surfing the internet at a private library to prepare herself for state civil service exams, while Laishram Victor, a graduate, was busy studying for CDS tests at such a facility here.

Like Abemma and Victor, there are many job aspirants who are preparing for competitive exams at 40 such private libraries in Imphal area and Kakching district, as they have a poor environment for reading at their homes, with many suffering from frequent internet shutdowns amid ethnic violence in the state, the stakeholders said.