NEW DELHI: Information & Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley today said there has been a paradigm shift to digitise various Government Publications in order to reach out to online readers globally.

Releasing the print and digital versions of India 2016 and Bharat 2016, the Minister said digital version of the books will be 25 per cent cheaper than print versions and will also help in saving paper consumption. Jaitley also stated that Annual Reference Book was an asset and a repository of information for all stakeholders.

Additionally, the Minister launched the online payment service and subscription of popular journals and Employment News of the Publications Division through Bharat Kosh, Non Tax Receipt portal of the Finance Ministry.

While launching the online subscription service, he said that the objective of technology was to provide solutions to complicated issues. He mentioned that Bharat Kosh portal would enable direct transfer of money received from the sale of journals to the Consolidated Fund of India.

Jaitley also launched the service of sale of printed version of the prominent books of the division through e-commerce platforms such as Flipkart. The Reference Book India 2016 along with 49 other important titles would now be available on Flipkart.

I&B Secretary Sunil Arora said that India Reference Book was a signature book brought out by Publications Division. It was a ready reference for academicians and students preparing for various competitive examinations and should be a must read for anyone who wanted authentic and credible information about India.

The digital versions of the Publications Division books would be available on Kobo for online readers.