Rajiv said the collection of books will start today until Jan 8, before they are distributed to several prisons in Malaysia, namely in Tapah, Taiping, Kemunting, Batu Gajah, Kajang, Melaka and Sungai Buloh. The initiative is also extended to juvenile centres.

The initiative began when Ananda Rao, chairman of Pertubuhan Kebajikan Sosial Sivasakthi, started the book donation drive some time ago. He then reached out to Rajiv to gain more support and help in sourcing reading materials.

Ananda said the ever-increasing number of inmates meant more books were needed. “There is not enough material for everyone,” he said.

To support the cause, Rajiv has invited his constituents to contribute reading material by dropping off books at his office.

“We accept book donations from anyone, anywhere. They can courier it to us or do a drive-by and drop-off or send via delivery service,” he said at an online press conference today.

Asked what kind of books should be donated, Anand said donors were encouraged to provide motivational, religious, self-help books and magazines but added that “any kind of books will be accepted”.

He said the donated books will be placed in the prisons’ mini-libraries and each inmate would be allocated 30 minutes per day to read.

“In some cases, the inmates are students who are sitting for major examinations. More time will be allocated for them,” he said.

He said the Prisons Department was aware of this initiative and has asked the prisons’ administration to manage the library.