Govt to review advertisement policy
ITANAGAR, Nov 20: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said that the state government would soon review its advertisement policy that would also benefit the newly launched Hindi daily of the state.
Khandu said this after launching the first Hindi daily of the state, ‘Arun Bhoomi’, in a ceremony here on Wednesday.
“When existing newspapers of the state find it difficult to sustain for lack of private and corporate advertisements, it would be an uphill task for a newly launched daily,” the CM admitted. He, however, assured that on request of the state’s press fraternity, the state government would soon review its advertisement policy.
Congratulating the Arun Bhoomi team, Khandu termed the day as historic and a new chapter in the evolving history of media in the state. He said the void of a local daily in the Hindi language has been filled with the launch today.
Khandu called Hindi as the bond that unites the diverse ethnic tribes of the state who speak different dialects. He, therefore, lauded the initiative to start a newspaper in Hindi, saying it would strengthen the bond between the people.
Further, he hoped that the major population of the country, who speak and read Hindi, would get easy access to news, information and knowledge about Arunachal Pradesh.
Hailing Hindi, as the only language that has kept the state’s people as one, besides connecting with people from outside the state and personnel of the Indian Armed Forces, Khandu underscored the importance of taking it to the next level.
“Hindi was born in India. It’s our property. Therefore, it is our responsibility to promote and protect it. As Arunachalees we are proud that we have protected it in our own way,” he said pointing to the typical Hindi spoken in Arunachal Pradesh, which defies rules of grammar.
Khandu suggested the Arun Bhoomi team not to take the newspaper purely as a business venture but to take it as a mission to promote Hindi amongst the new generation of Arunachalees besides encouraging literature and preservation of indigenous culture.
Titled Arun Bhoomi, the daily will be published and edited by Takam Sonia, who also heads the Arunachal Hindi Sanstha, an organization working for promotion and propagation of Hindi language in the state.
Meanwhile, Sonia informed that Arun Bhoomi would be flexible as far as grammar is concerned and patronize writings in Arunachalee Hindi.
“There’s no such thing as pure Hindi. We will welcome writings in Arunachalee Hindi as people connect with it,” he said.
The launch ceremony was also attended by Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker Tesam Pongte, Chief Advisor of the Arunachal Hindi Sanstha, Tai Tagak, Nampong Legislator Laisam Simai and faculty of Dera Natung Government College Prof A K Pandey, among others, (CMO)
