The former Union Minister K. Rahman Khan on Saturday appealed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to extend patronage to Urdu media.
Briefing presspersons about the golden jubilee celebrations of Daily Salar, one of the oldest Urdu newspapers in the country, Mr. Khan said the government should start a training unit under the Urdu Academy to tutor upcoming Urdu journalists.
“Despite the advent of the electronic media, print media still holds good readership. Urdu journalism needs encouragement and patronage from the government,” said Mr. Khan, who is also a trustee of the Salar Publications Trust.
He said he would soon meet the Chief Minister and request him to direct the authorities concerned to release government advertisements to Urdu papers. A programme to mark the golden jubilee of the newspaper will be held on Monday at the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Bhavan on Millers Road. It will be inaugurated by Vice-President of India M. Hamid Ansari, he said.
Salar was the first Urdu newspaper that adopted offset printing and photo type-setting in 1980, Mr. Khan said.
