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Agartala
Press Club : A Saga Of Success
Celebration of an
institutional jubilee inevitably sparks nostalgic effusion with
participants digging up past anecdotes to reorder history.
Invariably an embattled arena, marked by conflicting interpretations
depending on ideological propensities, history is, however, based on
a consensual core. Firmly anchored on this core , the history of
Agartala Press Club-Tripura's premier socio-cultural institution by
its current silver jubilee year-is an authentic saga of success and
advancement .
It
was on the fateful day of January 30, 1983 that erstwhile Chief
Minister Mr Nripen Chakraborty had inaugurated the newly built Press
Club building in the heart of Agartala, giving concrete shape to a
long-cherished dream of the press community here . But the three
eventful decades that preceded the momentous inauguration had also
been witness to the slow but steady growth of the media here . After
nearly five hundred years of princely rule, Tripura had merged with
the Indian Union on October 15, 1949 , ushering in the era of
democratic rule and responsible government . Notwithstanding the
challenges that confronted the new rulers in the initial years of
popular rule, democratic institutions continued to grow-and so did
the media as the fourth pillar of democracy.
In 1952 Tripura's
first daily newspaper 'Jagaran' made its appearance, evoking
enthusiastic response from the readers of all hues . This was
followed by the publication of a number of small-size dailies and
weeklies that struggled to survive chiefly by government bounties in
the form of advertisements. In the absence of industry and , more
specifically , the manufacturing sector, commercial or private
advertisements-easily the richest source of media revenue- remained
elusive . Nevertheless, the appearance in 1966 of 'Dainik Sambad',
renamed from its earlier incarnation as 'Dainik Gana Abhiyan', gave
a fresh impetus to the growth and development of print media in
Tripura . Even as 'Dainik Sambad' continued to influence and shape
Tripura's public discourse, other leading papers such as 'Daily
Desher katha', 'Syandan Patrika', 'Tripura Darpan', ‘Tripura Times’
and a host of others hit the trail, offering the wide spectrum of
readers a multiple choice .
From the late eighties the newspapers grew fast, upgrading
technology and catering to the diverse needs and tastes of readers
in response to the changing time and trend . The technology-driven
growth continues even today with as many as 22 dailies-all of them
offset printed-and 31 weeklies-11 of them printed in offset-being
published from Agartala.
But before the boom set
in, a grey area had rankled the hearts of the doyens of Tripura's
media world : there was no press club ; nor any institution to
represent the press community . In the late sixties the doyens of
the media had initiated a move to set up a press club at Agartala.
This required allotment of a suitable plot of government land on
lease and assistance in the construction of building. It was in the
year 1983 that the painstaking endeavour of the leading lights of
media here met with success as the then Chief Minister Nripen
Chakraborty responded positively to the demands of the media by
arranging the construction of present press club building on
allotted government land . A preparatory committee comprising
leading personalities of state's media drafted the constitution of
the press club which was registered with the Co-operative department
as a Society by the end of 1983. In the year 1984 the press club
building was handed over to the first elected managing committee on
ninety nine year lease .Among many an achievement of Agartala Press
Club high on the list is the launching of Journalist Welfare Fund in
1990.During the past eight years the Fund, Jointly managed by
representatives of the Club and State Government, has grown by leaps
and bounds with liberal grants from the State Government. A number
of Journalists have benefited from the journalist Welfare Fund
during periods of crisis.
During the past twenty
five years of vibrant existence Agartala Press Club has emerged as a
hallowed hub of socio-cultural programmes and interactions in the
state , playing regular host to VIPs and dignitaries from within the
state and without it , intervening at need to protect and safeguard
the common interests of the media and organising cultural programmes
, seminars and debates with participation of stalwarts from
different strata of society and the intellectual arena.
During the past
quarter century of eventful existence the state government has
showered bounties on Agartala Press Club by funding renovation and
repairing programmers on a numner of occasions. Needless to say, but
for liberal government assistance Agartala Press Club would have
found it extremely difficult to survive the ravages of time. In a
magnanimous pro-media gesture Chief Minister Mr Manik Sarkar has
taken personal initiative to have the Clun building reconstructed by
sanctioning Rs 1.46 crore and allotting additional government land.
This magnanimous gesture on the part of Mr Sarkar is, indeed,
unprecedented in the whole country and will go a long way in helping
the Agartala Press Club play a more meaningful role in Tripura’s
life and society.
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