Bhubaneswar: Leading independent Odia daily, Pragativadi will be entering 50 years of the uninterrupted publication on May 1. The Golden Jubilee celebrations were held on Saturday evening.
Founded by the noted Socialist Leader, Eminent Journalist, and Statesman, Pradyumna Bal, Pragativadi becomes the third newspaper of Odisha to celebrate 50 glorious years of presence.
The event kicked off with the unveiling of Pragativadi’s 50 years logo by Honourable Governor of Odisha, Professor Ganeshi Lal at Raj Bhavan in presence of Chairperson Smt Saswati Bal, Director Mona Lisa Bal, and Executive Editor Birupakshya Tripathy.
KISS & KIIT Founder, Dr Achyuta Samanta, along with state Higher Education Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo and other dignitaries paid floral tributes to Pradyumna Bal’s photograph.
The glorious 50 year’s first event was inaugurated at Pragativadi head office amid a packed audience on an open-air podium this evening, as part of the year-long Golden Jubilee celebrations.
On this occasion, a sapling plantation was taken up by Smt Saswati Bal and Mona Lisa Bal on the premises of Pragativadi.
After showcasing a video featuring the 50 years journey of Pragativadi, the guests were felicitated and Pragativadi’s 50 years golden jubilee edition was unveiled.
Pragtivadi is committed to its social milieus, value system, and always to the welfare of the Odisha people. And signifying again its core rule, the organisation felicitated Kamalu Harijan and Mangai Harijan–the tribal couple of Nabarangpur district, who dedicated their entire life towards social service and upliftment of the orphanage children of the locality.
On this occasion, Pragativadi also felicitated five senior journalists of the state–Harischandra Nanda Goswami, Harihar Patra, Surendra Panigrahi, Baburam Jena, and Purnachandra Satapathy.
The speakers lauded the role of Pragativadi for its impartial approach to news delivery.
“The longest journey of Pragativadi has taken place today, marking the 50th anniversary of progress. The policy of the newspaper has never deviated from its path which was paved by Pradyumna Bal. Sri Bal always emphasized the theme–compromise-less politics and still the ideology reflects in his newspaper,” said Dr. Achyuta Samanta.
The occasion was graced by five distinguished dignitaries, Professor Bishwaranjan, social reformer and Decency movement founder Arundhati Devi, former MLA N Narayan Reddy, senior journalists Prasanna Mohanty and Dhaneshwar Sahu.
While speaking on the occasion, State Higher Education Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo said:
Pragativadi stands for high standards of accuracy, authenticity, and the core value of journalism. This changed with the advent of several Odia newspapers over the past decades, but anything published in Pragativadi is taken as gospel truth by the people of Odisha.
Shouldering the responsibility of free and fair journalism and keeping up with the trust of the people of the State, Pradyumna Bal founded the Odia weekly ‘Pragativadi’. It took up the national trend of investigative journalism in the eighties and had to face all odds from powers that be.
Prasanna Mohanty I Senior Journalist
Over the years, Pragativadi transformed itself into an institution and the moral objectives of Pradyumna Bal. The role of ‘Pragativadi’ is playing instrumental in awakening the social values and contributing to the nation-building process. It does not matter whether the circulation of the newspaper decreases or increases, Pragativadi had never compromised with its way of propagating news.
N Narayan Reddy I Former Legislator
Pragativadi has never deviated from its continuation and aim. Though it has suffered a lot since it was started, Sri Pradyumna Bal never deviated from his actual aim for Pragativadi.
Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak I MLA, Mahakalapada
On this occasion, 40 journalists and staff of Pragativadi were felicitated for their tireless work towards the organisation.
Chairperson of Pragativadi, Saswati Bal presided over the Golden Jubilee celebrations, while the entire event was coordinated by Executive Editor Birupakshya Tripathy and at the end of the ceremony, Director, Mona Lisa Bal, gave the vote of thanks.
