National Award-Winning Film 'Chalo Jeete Hain'

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting//Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav

प्रविष्टि तिथि: 16 SEP 2025 at 5:09 PM by PIB Delhi Regarding Film 'Chalo Jeete Hain'

Set for Special Nationwide Re-release

*Lakhs of ‘Silent Heroes’ to be Honoured on PM Modi’s Birthday, post the screenings of National Award-winning film ‘Chalo Jeete Hain’

*A Powerful Tribute to PM Modi's Life and Swami Vivekananda’s Philosophy to Inspire Youth

New Delhi: 16th September 2025: (PIB Delhi//The Media Screen Online Desk)::

National Award-winning film “Chalo Jeete Hain”—a moving cinematic tribute to Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy “Bas wahi jeete hain, jo doosro ke liye jeete hain” (Only those are truly successful who live for others)—is set for a special re-release across India from September 17 to October 2, 2025. The critically acclaimed film, among the most viewed short films of 2018, will be screened in lakhs of schools and nearly 500 cinema halls nationwide, including PVRInox, Cinepolis, Rajhans and Miraj.

Inspiring Young Minds

To mark the re-release, the ‘Chalo Jeete Hain: Seva Ka Sanman’ initiative has been launched. Under this initiative, ‘Silent Heroes’ of schools and society—watchmen, cleaning staff, drivers, peons and others who contribute quietly to the smooth functioning of daily life—will be honoured and felicitated. These ceremonies will take place after students watch the film along with the ‘Silent Heroes’, inspiring young minds to live not just for themselves but in service of others.

A Tribute to Swami Vivekananda's Philosophy

The film is inspired by a childhood incident from the life of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. It tells the story of young Naru, who, deeply influenced by Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy, seeks to understand its meaning and strives to make a difference in his small world. With this initiative, the timeless message of selflessness and service will reach a new generation in an impactful manner.

Nationwide Impact

“This movement carries a deeply powerful message. It will inspire millions of young minds about valuing and respecting every work and each individual. It reinforces the timeless values of selflessness, empathy and duty to the nation—a true tribute to our Prime Minister,” said producer Mahaveer Jain. “Through this film, we hope to ignite a spark in the hearts of youth, encouraging them to live a life of purpose and to contribute positively to society,” he added.

Winner of the National Award for Best Non-Feature Film on Family Values, “Chalo Jeete Hain” continues to resonate with audiences. Directed by Mangesh Hadawale and presented by Aanand L. Rai and Mahaveer Jain, the film’s message of living for others remains as relevant today as when it was first released. Its special re-release now seeks to carry that message further, as a tribute to the inspiring life and philosophy of the Prime Minister.

The screenings in schools are a significant part of this initiative, ensuring the film's message resonates with students and encourages them to embrace a life of purpose.

****//Dharmendra Tewari//Navin Sreejith//(रिलीज़ आईडी: 2167218)

Ministry of I&B cautions TV channels

Posted On: 09th January 2023 at 2:38 PM by PIB Delhi

Cautions against disturbing footages, distressing images

*Gory images of blood, dead bodies, physical assault are distressful, against Programme Code

*No editing being done of violent videos being taken from social media by channels

*TV reports causing psychological impact on children, invading privacy of victims

New Delhi: 9th January 2023: (PIB//The Media Screen)::

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has today issued an advisory to all television channels against reporting incidents of accidents, deaths, and violence including violence against women, children and elderly in manners which grossly compromises on “good taste and decency”. The advisory has been issued after several instances of lack of discretion by television channels were noticed by the Ministry.

The Ministry has said that television channels have shown dead bodies of individuals and images/videos of injured persons with blood splattered around, people, including women, children and elderly being beaten mercilessly in close shots, continuous cries and shrieks of a child being beaten by a teacher, shown repeatedly over several minutes including circling the actions thereby making it even more ghastly, without taking the precaution of blurring the images or showing them from long shots. It has further highlighted that the manner of reporting such incidents is distasteful and distressing for the audience.

The advisory has highlighted the impact such reporting has on various audience. It has stated that such reports can also have an adverse psychological impact on the children. There is also a crucial issue of invasion of privacy which could be potentially maligning and defamatory, the advisory has underlined. Television, being a platform usually watched by families in households with people from all cohorts – old aged, middle aged, small children, etc., and with various socio-economic backgrounds, place certain sense of responsibility and discipline among the broadcasters, which have been enshrined in the Programme Code and the Advertising Code.

The Ministry has observed that in most cases the videos are being taken from social media and broadcast without editorial discretion and modifications to ensure compliance and consistency with the Programme Code.

A list of examples of such recently broadcast content is as below:

1.         30.12.2022 showing the distressing images and videos of a cricketer injured in an accident, without blurring.

2.         28.08.2022 showing disturbing footage of a man dragging the dead body of a victim and also focusing on the face of the victim with blood splattered around.

3.         06-07-2022 about a distressing incident in which a teacher can be seen brutally thrashing a 5-year-old boy until he lost consciousness in a coaching classroom in Patna, Bihar. The clip          was played without muting it in which painful cries of the child begging for mercy can be heard and was shown for over 09 minutes.

4.         04-06-2022 showing the distressing gory images of the dead body of a Punjabi singer without blurring.

5.         25-05-2022 showing a disturbing incident of a man brutally beating two minor boys with a stick in Chirang district of Assam. In the video, the man can be seen mercilessly beating boys with sticks.  The clip was played without blurring or muting in which the boys’ painful cries are clearly heard.

6.         16-05-2022 where a woman advocate was brutally assaulted by her neighbor in Bagalkot district of Karnataka, showing continuously without edits.

7.         04-05-2022 showing a man hacking his own sister to death in Rajapalayam, Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu.

8.         01-05-2022 about a man being hung upside down from a tree and brutally thrashed with sticks by five people in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh. 

9.         12-04-2022 about an accident in which distressing visuals of five dead bodies are continuously shown without blurring.

10.       11-04-2022 about an incident where a man can be seen brutally attacking his 84-year-old mother in Kollam, Kerala, dragging his mother through the yard beating and thrashing her mercilessly shown continuously without blurring for approximately 12 minutes.

11.       07-04-2022 about a highly disturbing video of an old man setting his son ablaze in Bengaluru. The unedited footage of the old man lighting a matchstick & throwing it on his son upon which he was engulfed in flames was telecast repeatedly.

12.       22-03-2022 about a video of a 14-year-old minor boy being beaten in Morigaon district of Assam, carried without blurring or muting in which the boy can be heard crying and pleading while being beaten mercilessly.

Raising concern over such broadcast and in view of larger public interest involved and having regard to the nature of audience of television channels including elderly, women and children, the Ministry has strongly advised all private television channels to attune their systems and practices of reporting incidents of crime, accidents and violence, including death in conformity with the Programme Code.

Click here for Detailed Advisory

******  Saurabh Singh (Release ID: 1889743)

Second Episode of Voter Awareness Program, "Matadata Junction"

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting//14-October, 2022 10:05 IST

Matadata Junction to be broadcast on Friday, October 14

Broadcast by All India Radio during 7.25-7.40 pm on 100.1 FM Gold Channel

Courtesy Photo

New Delhi: 14th October 2022: (MIB//The Media Screen)::

Voting is a great power as well as a great weapon, in front of it everything else remains grounded. It is also the biggest need of today's time to bring the identity of this power to every house. Voter Junction has been created for this purpose only. this special broadcast is planed for every corner of the country.

Theme-The Power of One Vote- Ek Vote ki Taqat Matadata Junction program is being broadcast in 23 languages across the country. AIR collaborates with the Election Commission of India for broadcast of 52 Episodes of 15 minutes each on FM Gold, FM Rainbow, Vividh Bharati stations and Primary channels of AIR

All India Radio in collaboration with the Election Commission of India has started a new weekly program ‘Matadata Junction’ on Voter Awareness. Second Episode of the Program, "Matadata Junction" will be broadcast on Friday, October 14 on 100.1 FM GOLD Channel during 7.25-7.40pm in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. The theme is the Power of One Vote or Ek Vote ki Taqat.

The 15 minutes weekly program goes on air every Friday in 23 languages across the country including Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili & Dogri.

It will be broadcast between 7-9pm time band on FM Rainbow, Vividh Bharati stations and Primary channels of AIR across the country. Citizens can also listen to the Program on ‘Twitter on @airnewsalerts, News On AIR’ App and YouTube channels of All India Radio.

The weekly program covers all aspects of Voter ecosystem. Each episode is based on a particular Theme on the electoral process. All the 52 Themes are aimed at encouraging all eligible citizens and especially the young and first-time voters to vote and make an informed decision during the elections. Quiz, Experts' interview, and Songs produced by the SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) Team of the ECI shall be carried in every episode. The program includes a Citizen's Corner where any citizen can ask a query or suggest on any aspects of the voting.

****  Saurabh Singh

National Press Day 2013 observed today

15-11-2013 पर प्रकाशित

Celebrating responsible and free press: National Press Day 2013 observed today

Courtesy:INBMINISTRY

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President’s address at the Press Council of India on the celebrations of National Press Day, New Delhi                                        16-November-2006 15:43 IST
Following is the text of President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s address at the Press Council of India on the celebrations of National Press Day, New Delhi:
Press a partner in National Missions
"Media is the medium”
I am delighted to participate in the National Press Day. I would like to greet all of you on this great occasion. Forty year is indeed a big period and definitely Indian Press would have grown in many spheres of reporting. From now, to the year 2020, is a very important period for the nation. National Press definitely has to get transformed into media of billion people and above all they have to play a vital role as a partner of India’s economic development. The combination of economic development and preservation of values system drawn from our civilizational heritage will transform India into a happy, prosperous and safe nation.

Friends, when I see you all, you are very important component of the society, I recall my experiences of visiting all the States and Union Territories, and witnessing the unique ambience of the seven hundred million people living in 600,000 villages equivalent to 200,000 Panchayat’s. What is that ambience? I call that ambience as, “A scene of sweat”. It is the farmers in the agricultural field, it is the fishermen in the rough seas, it is the worker in the industries, teachers in the schools, knowledge workers in the laboratories, knowledge and Pharma industries, health workers removing the pain at all times in healthcare institutions and many other people, who have to be always remembered by this great media community. In politics, there are two components: political politics and the other important element development politics. Most of you give importance to political politics. The nation’s important need is development politics. Your reporting in this area is essential. That is how I have selected the topic for discussion today as “Press a partner in National Missions”.

Media as a partner in national development.

Friends, I would like to share with you a few experiences that are relevant to the media today.

(a) Fellows of NVA:
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) is engaged in the capacity building activity for rural development through rural youth. The Foundation had organized a meet of the national fellows some time back. The title of “Fellow” is normally attached with the academicians, intellectuals, scientists, historians and economists. Here, the fellows I am talking about are the farmers, fishermen or craftsmen drawn from various walks of life, who can make a difference to people living in the rural ambience. Their only potential is experience and enthusiasm to serve society. 

I had met and interacted with over 140 fellows coming from different rural parts of the country. It is indeed a celebration of our rural core competence. The Foundation has really thought of an innovative scheme to recognize and train the people who are wedded to rural development and empowering them to promote rural transformation in certain areas. Particularly, I was impressed by the choice of fellows such as Mr. Anwarji of Balipara, Assam who has core competence in education, suitable for local people in areas such as literacy, sanitation and the use of ICT. Ms. Pushpa Ben of Village Sokhada, Gujarat who has the core competence in water conservation and vegetable vending; Ms. Vijyantha Raut of Nimgoan Bhogi, Maharastra who has the core competence of social work particularly in micro credit movement, Mr. Narsingh Singh from Charanwala Bajju village of Rajasthan who has the core competence in Computer education in rural areas; Mr. V. Deenadhayalan from Umbalchery village, Tamil Nadu with core competence in indigenous live stock keeping and also practicing animal healing using herbal plants. This clearly indicates the spectrum of experience of the fellows selected. I would recommend that journalists should interact with such grassroot social reformers and bring out their core competence, dedication and experience in serving rural communities, which can become a model for our youth to follow.

Friends, after I took over as President, apart from visiting States for participating in various functions, I also have interacted with students and people from rural areas wherever possible. I have also addressed the State Legislatures wherever possible. So far I have addressed 12 State Legislatures. In my addresses, the central message has been how the State can be economically developed with high Human Development Index, and how to increase the per capita income of the State? I normally give 8 to 10 missions. These missions have been developed based on the inputs from the Planning Commission, consultation with State ministries, the core competence of the State and the rural development profile of the State which are mapped to Vision 2020 targets. I would suggest that the media personnel should study, research and analyze these missions and put forth the actions and suggestions to the executives, leaders contribute to the development of the corresponding States.

b. Pro-active Media:
I would like to share with you an out-of-the box solution. After my address to the Kerala Legislative Assembly on the “Missions for Kerala’s prosperity”, there was a detailed discussion in the Kerala Assembly amongst all political parties. As you know, the media in Kerala is very alert and dynamic. They took up the mission and extended the discussion to the people and all the political leaders, inviting suggestions from all of them. I would like to share with you how Malayala Manoroma contributed to the document which I presented to the Kerala Assembly. Malayala Manoroma translated this document “Missions for Kerala’s prosperity” and ensured that it reached all the readers and various active development groups. Also the media organized six workshops, in different places in the State for discussing all the ten missions and seeking the operational problems and their solutions. In this workshop, ministers, political leaders, government functionaries and media personal participated. I also interacted with them during the concluding session through video conferencing. The media finally submitted their recommendations to the Government for implementation. This proactive step undertaken by the media shows how the media can be an effective partner in the national development. 

Friends, I am sharing this experience with you, which is very important for the media to be a partner in national missions, such as Developed India 2020, PURA and the recently sanctioned “Bharat Nirman” programme with an investment of Rs. 1,74,000 Crore to be executed in 4 years by the Government. There is another important programme, called the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme covering 200 districts. In addition, the Government has also passed an act called the “Right to Education Act’ for providing compulsory and free education to all children between 5 to 13 years. All these programmes are very important national programmes and particularly the media should take interest, highlight the positive aspects and provide solutions to difficult aspects through nationwide consultations. This will certainly make a difference in the implementation of the programme and bring smiles to the faces of our billion people. 

The economic development has got a tremendous link with the standards of ethics in the country and dynamics of globalization. Hence I will be discussing certain development goals in our country.

Now, I would like to discuss some of the innovative development programmes that need media attention, which I have come across in different parts of the country.

c.PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas):
The integrated method which will bring prosperity to rural India is called PURA, which envisages four connectivities: the physical connectivity of village clusters through quality roads and transport; electronic connectivity through tele-communication with high bandwidth fiber optic cables reaching the rural areas from urban cities and through internet kiosks; knowledge connectivity through education, skill training for farmers, artisans and crafts persons and entrepreneurship programmes. These three connectives will lead to economic connectivity through the establishment of enterprises with the help of banks, micro credit and marketing of products. We need to establish approximately 7000 PURA Complexes in the country encompassing over 2 lakh Village Panchayats.

d. Operational PURA:
There are already four operational PURAs in the country pioneered by private institutions independent of Government efforts. They are the Periyar PURA in Vallam, Tamil Nadu, Loni Pura in Loni, Maharastra, Chitrakoot PURA in Madhya Pradesh and Byrraju PURA in Andhra Pradesh. Now I would like to share the experiences of my recent visit to Byyraju PURA in Bhimavaram, Andra Pradesh. Byrraju Foundation of Satyam Computer Services has undertaken the mission of establishing 32 Ashwini centers benefiting 116 villages with a population of around 500,000 people. It has provided electronic connectivity through wireless (512 kbps to 2 mbps), knowledge connectivity in cooperation with the National Academy of Construction, Hyderabad and other domain experts, thereby creating economic connectivity in these villages.

e. Economic Connectivity:
During the last 4 years of its operations, it has skill enabled and knowledge enabled people in areas such as construction, tailoring, garment production, IT and spoken English. This programme has resulted in the creation of 3000 jobs with the minimum earning of Rs. 3000 per month, which is 3 times that of the earlier earning potential. A rural BPO Gram IT, established in Jallikakinada center has trained unemployed graduates in IT skills and spoken English and employed one hundred people to do BPO operations such as transaction processing of Human Resource data of Satyam Computers as back office processing; data processing of one million self-help-group members of Andhra Pradesh such as financial data, accounting data, spending patterns and cultural aspects under the programme “Mapping the bottom of the Pyramid”. This Gram IT BPO has led to the 10% reverse migration from Hyderabad to Bhimavaram. I am sure this Model can be replicated by many of our IT companies in the rural sector to create PURA clusters and bring rural transformation. Journalists assembled here today can definitely study this PURA and analyze the impact it has made in improving the quality of life for the people living in this cluster. Based on this study, they can spread the message of the benefits of PURA to different regions in the country. Now I would like to talk about the important facility established by the Ministry of Agriculture which should be brought to the notice of all rural people in the country for deriving maximum benefits.

f. Chhattisgarh Bhaktara PURA:
Recently, I was in Chhattisgarh, where I inaugurated a PURA complex at Baktara village in Arang Tehsil of Raipur District. This PURA complex covering 22 villages with a population of 36,000 people is coming up and very soon it will be a vibrant PURA with high quality 4 lane roads with Battery operated and Bio-diesel buses, 1000 modern dwelling units, quality health care facility with 250 bed hospital and a state-of-the-art school by DAV Institution and paramedical and nursing training institutions. The Corporate have committed to establish these facilities linked to the schedule of commission of the PURA within next 5 years. I thought of sharing this experience with you to give an idea how the areas are fast developing in different parts of our country. Central Government is planning to create 2 PURA clusters in each district across the country as a part of the 11th plan programme. Media’s interest in PURA is indeed will be the interest of village development of the country and there by economic development of the nation.

Media Research
I have a suggestion particularly to the members of the media consisting of editors, journalists, correspondents and reporters. In our country, it is essential to have research wings in academic institutions developing media personnel in reporting news, event analysis and highlights. This will enable our journalists to carry out original research on topics of national interest and provide solutions to medium and long term problems. The owners of newspapers should encourage research being carried out by experienced and young reporters for acquiring post-graduate qualifications which will improve the quality of content of the print media. Participating media members must realize that continuous updating of knowledge in research environment is essential for all media personnel. For example, before any issue is discussed in foreign newspapers, they send it to an internal research group where data is studied; verified and factual news is generated and sent for publication. When there was a critical comment about outsourcing to India, a US journalist stayed in India and studied the issue and found out that the companies engaged in Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) were carrying out business using imported equipment from USA and Europe. Thus, they found that the BPO industries provided an indirect market for the hardware industries of the USA and Europe. Immediately this was reported in the Indian media in a big way. Similarly a Discovery Channel media person wanted to study India’s growth in Information Technology; Thomas Friedman came to India and stayed for a month and visited Bangalore and other places. Based on his news analysis he wrote a book titled “The World is Flat”. Such is the power of research. I would suggest our Indian newspaper agencies should encourage research being carried out by our correspondents and journalists within India in academic research institutions, which will definitely improve the quality of our reporting and enhance the participation of journalists in national development missions.

Missions for media
In the present development context of the nation, I would like the media to take up the following missions for immediate implementation. 1. A media movement: Developed India before 2020.

2. Media becoming a development partner in the programme of PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural Area) – connectivity is the focus.

3. Celebrating every aspect of the success of the people of the State and the Nation particularly in rural areas.

4. Evolution of corruption free India before 2015.

5. Promoting an enlightened society, which means education with value system, transforming religion into a spiritual force and building economic prosperity of the nations based on their core competence. For this mission, a unique world body is essential. 

6. Print media and electronic media should bring honor to the womanhood.

7. Scanning and digitizing all old issues of the print media since its establishment and store in a digital library to preserve our national heritage and make it available for research.

8. Media should evolve a code of conduct among themselves for ensuring that all reporting is analyzed, evaluated, and researched prior to publication. This is essential for peace, prosperity and safety of the nation.

Conclusion
Friends while I am discussing the necessity of having the code of conduct for the media, I would like to share with you a healthy practice being evolved and followed by a newspaper which is published all over the country. They have appointed a consultant exclusively for maintaining the standard of the newspaper reporting and nurture the name of the paper, thereby ensuring that all the guidelines are adhered to by the reporters. There is a constant review of the quality of reporting and improvement in the guidelines. This may be followed by the media organizations all over the country to continuously improve the quality and maintain the consistency of news reporting. 

The Members of Press council of India may undertake the task of motivating every citizens of the nation to work towards transforming India into a developed nation well before 2020. This is the mission which has to be done unitedly by all the media organizations. Once again let me greet you all on the occasion of the 40th National Press Day and wish you success in your mission of igniting the minds of our youth for making positive contribution towards the development of our nation.

May God Bless you.
****
DS/SK

PM's Speech at the inauguration of the National Media Centre

24-August-2013 11:7 IST
Credibility is the media’s currency 
Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh's address at the inauguration of National Media Centre in New Delhi today: 

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh unveiling the plaque to inaugurate the National Media Centre, in New Delhi on August 24, 2013. The Chairperson, National Advisory Council, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Information & Broadcasting, Shri Manish Tewari, the Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Bimal Julka and the Principal Director General (M&C), Press Information Bureau, Smt. Neelam Kapur are also seen. (PIB)

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh addressing at the inauguration of the National Media Centre, in New Delhi on August 24, 2013. The Chairperson, National Advisory Council, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Information & Broadcasting, Shri Manish Tewari and the Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Bimal Julka are also seen.     (Photo:PIB)

"It gives me immense pleasure to be here today on an occasion that represents a milestone in public engagement. The inauguration of the National Media Centre is not only about unveiling New Delhi’s latest landmark. This Centre also showcases our ability to keep pace with similar state-of-the-art facilities across the world. It symbolizes the vibrant mood of the existing media landscape in our country. As a ‘Communication Hub’ and a ‘Single Window’ facility, I am sure it will fulfill the needs and requirements of our media fraternity, many of whom are present here today. 

The exponential growth in India’s media sector began during the decade of the nineties. The media, not coincidentally, were among the principal beneficiaries of the wave of economic reforms that were introduced in the country during that period. Growing economic activity created the need for better and more intensive communication, which itself had a commercial aspect to it. A virtuous cycle came about in which the increased reach of media, both print and electronic, opened up ever newer markets, which benefited producers and consumers alike. In fact, I would like to think that the phenomenon of India as a world power in cricket has something to do with the fact that our electronic media are able to create and unite a huge block of consumers, reaching which is the dream of many marketing professionals. 

The story of reform and liberalization in the media sector, which is a continuing one, is obviously a success story. The size of the media industry alone demonstrates that very amply. But the media are not merely a mirror of business activity; they are a reflection of the entire society at large. Economic reform and liberalization over the last two decades and more have wrought great societal change in our country. Our media have reflected this process and also been affected by the associated changes. I would even say that the pace of these changes has been so rapid that the documentation of its impact on the media has been somewhat inadequate. Technological advancements like the internet, telecom revolution, low cost broadcasting, social media and cheaper publishing facilities that exist today were inconceivable two decades ago. 

Change inevitably brings challenge in its wake. Those of you who are the practitioners of the media industry have a very special responsibility to assess, tackle and overcome the challenges that two decades of socio-economic change have brought about. In a vibrant democracy such as ours, which revels in free enquiry and quest for answers, this is a significant calling. But there is need for caution while executing this responsibility. A spirit of inquiry must not morph into a campaign of calumny. A witch-hunt is no substitute for investigative journalism. And personal prejudices must not replace the public good. 

At the end of the day, credibility is the media’s currency and is integral to its contract with the reader or viewer. There is also the question of a certain responsibility for social harmony and public order. I emphasize this particularly in the light of the social media revolution, which is rendering irrelevant the lines between a connected citizen and professional journalist. A mature and wise handling of this phenomenon is essential if we are to avoid the tragedy last year that befell many innocent souls who became victims of an online propaganda campaign and were then driven across the country to save their lives in their home states. 

It is a reality that journalism cannot be divorced from the business of which it is a part. The responsibilities of a media organization are not limited to the viewers and readers alone. The companies also have an obligation to their investors and shareholders. The tussle between bottom-lines and headlines is a fact of life for them. But this should not result in a situation where media organizations lose sight of their primary directive, which is to hold up a mirror to society and help provide a corrective. 

The media and civil society are an essential part of democracy and nation building. Now that we are at a decisive stage in taking our rightful place in the comity of nations, I am confident that they will not be found wanting in this collective effort to consolidate India as a plural, inclusive and progressive society. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the UPA Government in fostering a free, pluralistic and independent media. Our initiatives aim to bridge the ‘Information Divide’ and to provide our citizens knowledge and information so as to equip them to respond to social, economic and technological challenges. Our communication architecture is aimed at empowering our people with quality information. Through the innovative use of social media, I am confident that our Government will address and strengthen the communication needs of an aspirational India and connect with our younger generations. 

The National Media Centre is just the latest step in addressing the diverse communication needs of our country in the future. I congratulate the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on this achievement and urge it to remain at the cutting edge of media innovation. (PIB)
***
SC/NK/SH/SKS