Media plays an effective and important role in creating awareness in the society about the policies and programmes being launched by the Government besides giving feedback and reactions of the people. This was stated by the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while presiding over the function of weekly newspaper 'Prachand Himachal' held here today.He said that in the present era of communication, the role of media, be it electronic or print, has increased manifold. They not only update us with latest news, but also acts as a bridge between the government and the masses. He said that Media was called the fourth pillar of democracy other being judiciary, executive and legislative.Chief Minister said that the State Government has always maintained cordial relations with the media and several initiatives have been taken for welfare of media persons. He said that the government was also considerate towards the weeklies being published from the State. He congratulated the 'Prachand Himachal' weekly for completing two and a half year of its publication and said that in all these years. He said that the commitment and dedication of the Editor has ensured that 'Prachand Himachal' has established itself as a popular weekly of the State.
Jai Ram Thakur congratulated all the award winners on the occasion and said that it was due to their commitment and hard work that they have won the awards. He said that the others would also draw inspiration from the award winners. He also congratulated the Editor of the newspaper for organising this event in a befitting manner.The Chief Minister honoured various people excelling in various fields on behalf of 'Prachand Himachal' on the occasion. These include Prof. MC Saxena, Dr. Ashwani Kumar, K.R. Bharti, Sudarshan Vashisth, Dr. Mast Ram Sharma, Krishan Bhanu, Rachna Gupta, Shishu Sharma Shantal, Dr. Rajiv Pathania, Sandeep Upadhaya, Dinesh Kanojia, Deepak Joshi, Atul Kumar, Ajay Sharma, Satish Goel, Suresh Garg, Narinder Pal Singh Soatha, Capt. (Retd.) P.C. Bhandari, Rajinder Negi, Ajay Dhiman, Dr. Madhav Ram, Acharya Mahendra Sharma, Prem Mohini Gupta, Hardyal Bhardwaj, Rakesh Sharma, Dr. Vivek Chauhan and Rajinder Bhatt.Editor of the 'Prachand Himachal' Ashwani Verma welcomed the Chief Minister and other dignitaries present on the occasion. He said that it require a lot of efforts and commitment to bring out small newspapers, particularly in small state like Himachal.Former Governor Nagaland Ashwani Kumar, Chairman H.P. State Cooperative Bank Khushi Ram Balnahta, Mayor Municipal Corporation Shimla Kusum Sadrate, Former MLA Govind Ram Sharma, Chairman Kailash Federation Ravi Mehta, Director Information and Public Relations Anupam Kashyap were present on the occasion among others