Introduction
The Department of Publication, located at Civil Lines, behind Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro Station, Delhi- 110054, is a subordinate office of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. This Department is headed by the Controller of Publications and is assisted by Assistant Controller (Admn.), Assistant Controller (Business) & Financial Officer.
Brief history of the Department of Publication
The Central Publication Branch (now the Department of Publication) was established in Calcutta on 1.4.1924 with a retail book shop attached there to. Prior to that, such functions were performed by a Publication Section in the Government of India Press, Calcutta. The Central Publication Branch functioned as a commercial organization during the years 1928-29 to 1930-31. In 1932, the Branch (excluding the Book Shop later on called as Book Depot) was transferred to Delhi. The Manager of the Central Publication Branch was renamed Manager of Publications in 1933.
The Branch was renamed as the Government of India Publication Branch in 1948 under notification No. A-48 dated 11.02.1948 from the Ministry of Works, Mines, and Power, New Delhi (c.f.00-M-90/20/47-G. dated 10.3.1948. The Kitab Mahal (Publication Emporium) retail shop of the Publication Branch was opened by the Hon’ble Minister Shri N.V. Gadgil, Ministry of Works, Mines, and Power, on 9th July 1948. At present, it is housed in the State Emporia Building, Unit No. 24, Baba Kharag Singh Marg, New Delhi. The publication Branch functioned under erstwhile Chief Controller of Printing and Stationery, till the end of February 1973.
On 1.3.1973, the printing and stationery department was trifurcated into three separate departments, viz. Directorate of Printing, Department of Stationery, and Department of Publication vide Govt. of India, Ministry of Works & Housing, New Delhi resolution No. I-11012/3/73-PI dated 5.2.1973, published in Part I, Section I of the Gazette of India. Thereafter, the Department of Publication came into existence as full-fledged Department under the Ministry of Works & Housing (now Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs), with Controller of Publications as Head of the Department. The post of Manager of Publications was abolished/held in abeyance, and the posts of Controller of Publications, Deputy Controller of Publications, and Financial Officer were created vide Ministry of Works & Housing letter No. I-11012/3/72-PI (ii) dated 6.1.1973.
The Department of Publication is a service department as defined in Rule 59 of Account Code Vol. I (of Govt. of India, Late Department of Industries and Labour O.M. No. A-436 dated 10.11.1930. Government of India printed publications, published in the form of the gazettes, Acts, reports and books etc. have their own utility, importance and referral value. The contents of the material generated & published by the government departments after in-depth studies, deliberations and putting untiring efforts for making them more authentic, valuable and useful for various stakeholders including scholars, academicians, politicians, scientists, technologists, businessmen etc.. The object of display and sale of government publications is to disseminate government publications on various national programs and policies etc. to enable the common man to get benefit from such publications.
The Department of Publication has its headquarters at Civil Lines, Delhi and sale depots/outlets at the following locations: –
(i) Sale Counter, Delhi High Court, New Delhi.
(ii) Sale Counter at Head Quarter Civil Lines Delhi-110054.
(iii) Kitab Mahal, Baba Kharag Singh Marg, New Delhi.
(iv) Government of India Book Depot, 8, K.S. Roy Road, Kolkata.
(v) Sale Counter at New CGO Complex, New Marine Lines, Mumbai.
(vi) Sale Counter, Kendriya Sadan, Koramangala, Bangaluru- 34.
In addition to the book depot/Sale counters, the Publications are sold through agents spreads across the country.
The department possess the largest depository of Government of India books consisting of over 8000(Eight Thousand) titles (excluding various periodical, Gazettes notifications and Army Publications). The Controller of Publication is the authorized publisher, custodian and distributor of Government of India Publications. It caters the need of general public as well as government departments in respect of official publications.
Work profile of the department in brief :
- Stocking, sale and distribution of government publications and periodicals brought out by various ministries / departments of the Government of India.
- Publishing of notifications in various parts of the Gazette of India and Delhi Gazette.
- Publishing of advertisements for change of name, change of religion and public notices related to adoption of child, lost / destroyed / stolen items in the Gazette of India.
- Providing attested copies of the gazette notifications which are required for support in various court cases for ready reference.
- Uploading of fresh arrivals of movement books and periodicals on monthly basis on the website of the department i.e. www.deptpub.gov.in.
- Sale of books is made through department’s own sales outlets situated at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata & Bengaluru.
- Enrollment of restricted / regular agents for sale and distribution of movement publications and periodicals.
- Cataloging of publications and periodicals and issue of symbol numbers.
- Participation in book fairs all over India to promote sales activities.
- Stocking and distribution of defence publications.
- Publishing of advertisements of commercial firms, government undertakings, statutory bodies and public in the Gazette of India.
Future Roadmap for Department of Publication:
- Opening of service cum facilitation center along with allied facilities for public convenience.
- Development of IT platform for name change service etc. and sale and inventory management of various publications
- Introduction of e-HRMS in department of publications.
- Decentralization of name change services.