President Bidya Devi Bhandari
Friday said that Gorkhapatra Corporation should be provided with land and
budget to develop necessary infrastructure and acquire modern technology.
Addressing the First National
Journalism Day and 116th Anniversary of the Gorkhapatra Daily's
publication, President Bhandari underscored the importance of the oldest
newspaper in the country and one of the oldest in the South Asian region.
"Gorkhapatra is not only a
newspaper dedicated to inform and educate people, it's a living history and
national heritage," she stated.
She appreciated the Gorkhapatra
for taking up the challenge to inform and raise awareness of the people through
useful and balanced information.
The President said that
Gorkhapatra Corporation should enhance its presence online.
Minister for Industry and
officiating Minister for Information and Communications Som Prasad Pandey said that
the National Journalism Day was announced to recognize the role of Gorkhapatra
Daily in informing and educating the common people.
"Gorkhapatra is itself a
history and pride of the nation. It has earned credibility and won the love of the
people," he stated.
Minister Pandey maintained that
journalism had an important role to play in establishing the rights of people, so
the constitution had been very liberal towards the press.
"As journalism should play a
vital role to lead the country on the path of prosperity, government is
committed to bring timely changes in the media and journalism. In this regard,
I would like to express my commitment for the necessary actions to reform the
Gorkhapatra Corporation," he said.
General Manager of the
Corporation Sushil Koirala expressed his gratitude to the government, Nepal
Rastra Bank and Ministry of Information and Communications for declaring the
National Journalism Day, bringing out a silver coin with the logo of Gorkhapatra
and publishing postal stamp with the picture of the first issue of the
newspaper, respectively.
The silver coin was unveiled by
the President while the Secretary of MoIC Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya put a cancellation
mark on the postal stamp.
"Gorkhapatra has taken up
the responsibility to inform and educate people in their own language. It brings
out supplements in 33 different national languages and dialects," he said.
He stated that the Gorkhapatra,
along with its sister publications The Rising Nepal daily, Yubamanch, Madhupark
and Muna monthly, was dedicated to transmit information about government
policies to the people and bring back the feedback and voices of the public to
the government.
"The economic condition of
the Corporation has been gradually improving and we are dedicated to quality
products. The organization is going through a structural reform which is essential
to make it more effective in the federal structure," he said.
Chief Editor of Gorkhapatra
Daily, Pushkar Mathma stressed on the need of infrastructure and human resource
development.
On the occasion, senior
journalist Dhruba Hari Adhikari was awarded with the Gorkhapatra National
Journalism Award. President Bhandari handed over a plaque and a purse of Rs.
55,555.
Likewise, senior journalists
Kamal Mani Dixit and Lal Deusa Rai were felicitated for their contribution to
the development of journalism.
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