New Delhi: The knowledge of art and literature is important for bureaucrats and politicians as it helps in tackling public issues with compassion, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Sunday.

“We as politicians or people who are civil servants face different issues daily. If we have an artistic approach towards addressing them, we will deal with them with much more compassion. Literature and art provides a vision, which is important to serve the people,” he said at a poetry festival “Jashn-e-Adab” here. Mr Sisodia emphasised upon the need for promotion of Hindi and folk literature in schools, and pointed out to the lack of motivation amongst children and parents in taking up art and literature.

“I go to so many schools where I talk to teachers about the subject they teach. If I ask a Hindi teacher the purpose of teaching literature, I do not get a clear answer. We have to make these points clear so that we are able to motivate children to take interest in literature,” he said.

A panel discussion, which included Indian Administrative Services (IAS) and Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officers, also discussed the growing trend of promoting English literature through festivals in the country.

He stressed upon the lack of new content in Hindi and said that the organisers must work on gathering the rich folk treasure of the country.

“The market is more available for English literature and that is the reason we see so many festivals dedicated to the language. Those who work in this field must collect the vast treasure of Hindi and folk literature that we have,” he said.