The Erode district administration has been recognised by Elite World Records for organising the largest simultaneous book-reading event across multiple venues as part of the 22nd Erode Book Festival.

Elite World Records adjudicator A. Sangeetha presented the world record certificate to District Collector S. Kandasamy at the Collectorate here on Friday (July 31).

The record attempt was organised by the district administration and Milky Mist Dairy Food Limited, in association with the School Education Department and Makkal Sinthanai Peravai, to promote reading habits. A total of 2,06,760 participants read books simultaneously at 519 locations across the district from 9.30 a.m. to 9.52 a.m. School and college students, along with government officials, participated in the event.

The organisers submitted documentary evidence from all the venues to Elite World Records, which verified the records before officially certifying the achievement under the category, “Maximum participants reading books simultaneously at multiple venues.” Earlier, a book-reading session was held at the Collectorate conference hall as part of the 22nd Erode Book Festival celebrations, with the District Collector participating in it.

Among those present were Corporation Commissioner Arpit Jain, Superintendent of Police D.V. Kiran Shruthi, District Revenue Officer S. Santhakumar, Chief Educational Officer E. Manvizhi, Personal Assistant (General) to the Collector V. Thenmozhi, Makkal Sinthanai Peravai president T. Stalin Gunasekaran, Milky Mist Dairy Food Limited Assistant General Manager (Human Resources) Sathyaraj, and senior officials from various government departments.

Published - July 31, 2026 08:40 pm IST