The government plans to set up a National Council of Children’s Literature as an independent autonomous body to promote and publish the children's literature.

The national book promotion policy, drafted by the human resources development (HRD) ministry talks of such a body. It lays stress on publication of high  quality literature for children, highlighting that this could help shape a better society in the future.

Presently, the National Book Trust publishes such literature. But it has come under criticism from the HRD ministry-appointed  task force for failing to enthuse children toward reading books. The task force, headed by Indian Society of Authors president Dinesh Mishra, noted that the reading had taken a backseat with the spread of cable and network television across the country.

The draft policy also proposes a regulatory body for book publishing that can set codes and ethics for publishers and adjudicate disputes on copyright, piracy and royalty payment to writers on the lines of the consumer commission. It will be able to set standards in the book publishing.

The task force has also suggested an Indian Institute of Publishing Management and Technology that can award diploma and certificates in publishing science, book designing, e-publishing and other specialisations connected with book publishing.