Translators have questioned the Assam publication board over unavailable copies of Bhupen Hazarika's multilingual biography. The board says every language edition will be printed for free library distribution in 2027.Assam govt's Bhupen Hazarika book in 22 languages faces delay in printing and distribution.Guwahati,Nov 10, 2026 14:25 ISTAn Assam government initiative to take the life and legacy of the ‘Bard of Brahmaputra’, Bhupen Hazarika, to readers across India in 22 languages has run into publication and distribution delays, news agency Press Trust of India reported.Several translators said they were still waiting for copies of their work more than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the book.

The Publication Board Assam, however, said it would print enough copies in all the translated languages in 2027 for free distribution to libraries in the respective states.Commissioned by the Assam government through the Publication Board Assam, the book was presented as an authoritative account of the legendary singer-composer’s life and a tribute marking his birth centenary. Originally written in Assamese, ‘Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika’ was translated into 21 other languages and released by PM Modi in September 2025.The book was translated into English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Bodo, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Nepali, Konkani, Malayalam, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Kashmiri, Dogri, Odia, Punjabi, Santhali, Tamil, Urdu, Bangla and Maithili. “They sent two dummy copies to me at the time of the release.

I and all other translators corrected and submitted those immediately for final publication. But after that, we have not heard anything from them,” Malayalam translator Anantha Narayanan told PTI from Kerala.Narayanan claimed that almost all the translators had contacted the board for final copies, but none had received them. “Our grudge is that we all love Bhupen Hazarika and we want to make his works popular among our people, but we are yet to get our copies.

How do we distribute copies to readers?” he asked.He said the translators had worked with “great enthusiasm” to release the book in the year marking Hazarika’s 99th birth anniversary and later hoped it would be distributed during the birth centenary celebrations.“We had waited for one year and thought that before Hazarika’s birth centenary celebrations are complete, the book would be printed. Now, we have lost our interest in this whole project,” Narayanan said.The book was written by senior journalist Anuradha Sarma Pujari.

Film critic and poet Aparajita Pujari was in charge of the ‘Bhupen Hazarika Project’, which was tasked with implementing the government’s plan to publish the book in major Indian languages.Asked whether the board had communicated with the translators about the alleged delay, Narayanan said they had only been told to “wait for some time”. “I think it was only a PR exercise that the government indulged in by releasing the book in 22 languages,” he alleged.Several other translators contacted by PTI confirmed Narayanan’s account. Tamil translator K Nallathambi wrote to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in July, highlighting the alleged failure to print the book and seeking his intervention.

PTI said it had a copy of the email.Following the email, the board published the final Tamil version and sent five copies to Nallathambi, he said. After he sought more copies for distribution in Tamil Nadu, the board sent another 40 copies after receiving payment from him, he claimed.“After a year of efforts, this book has been published by the Assam government.

This book has been translated into 21 languages. It is not known whether it has been published in other languages.

But after some hurdles, it has come out in Tamil,” Nallathambi wrote on Facebook on October 17.He said he had a few copies and interested readers could buy them from him for Rs 300. The book has 377 pages.In a recent Facebook video about the book, Konkani translator Lilesh Vasudev Kudalkar said, “Already one year has passed since the event and because of the hard work that we, the translators of the said book, have done.

We had completed the said translation work in record time so that the grand function could become a successful event.”Kudalkar claimed that the translators had not received “a single copy” even though they had planned to promote the book in their respective states. “Readers of every respective language were waiting eagerly to receive the book to know more about Dr Bhupen Hazarika ji. But their wait is still not over,” he said.Publication Board Assam Secretary Pramod Kalita acknowledged that the book had not been sent to the translators, apart from “a few” copies.

He said only dummy copies had been given to them when PM Modi released the book on September 13, 2025.“We have requested all to inform us how many copies they need. We will give them accordingly.

Our plan is to send the book to libraries of all the states of the respective languages free of cost next year. That is why we initially sent only a few copies,” Kalita told PTI.Kalita claimed that the board had tried to contact the translators about dispatching the books, but many did not answer calls from the project in-charge.

He also said the board had distributed about 11.5 lakh copies of the Assamese, Bodo, Bangla and English editions across Assam and was in talks with distributors in other states.Asked about the controversy, Aparajita Pujari said, “I, along with a team of translators and copy editors, completed and submitted the project on time. Printing and distribution are not my responsibility.

So, I don’t think I’m the right person to comment on this.”All the translators appreciated Pujari’s role and said the Assam government had paid them on time. “When we went to Guwahati for the book release function, we were very happy with the hospitality. The government really took good care of us and gave proper respect.

However, we are disappointed now as the book has not seen the light of day,” a translator told PTI on condition of anonymity.While translators remain disappointed over the limited availability of the book, the Publication Board Assam has said more copies will be provided on request and editions in all translated languages will be printed in 2027 for distribution to libraries across the respective states.- Ends