Saturday, Sep 13, 2003
Saturday, Sep 13, 2003 |
| The Hindu & me | ||||
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The Hindu & me
By A. Sivasailam
As an addict of The Hindu, one among the many thousands for the last 50 years, the copy of The Hindu to savour with a cup of coffee every morning has meant that it has primed and conditioned me for the world around on a daily basis. The Mail had been the next door neighbour of The Hindu for several decades and having been involved with it as a Group entity, my awareness had been sharpened to experience all of what is needed to run a newspaper. Consequently, my admiration for The Hindu as a newspaper and, more importantly, as a venerable institution has a firm base. When one thinks of the quality and standing of a national daily, it is its editorials that come to one's mind immediately — editorials that reflect public opinion and influence public policy. The Hindu, through its editorials and articles by eminent columnists, has dealt with many sensitive issues in a forthright manner. A radical change from decades of state-owned monopolies in strategic and key infrastructural areas straying even into tertiary areas such as tourism and hotels was seen moving into a partnership arrangement as between public and private sectors as a paradigm shift. The Hindu argued that the public-private sector partnership was not a contentious issue nor anti-public sector but pro-competition. The shift brought in a new set of players into the business stream, adding a new dimension of competition to such fields as telecom for the ultimate benefit of the public. To get to yet another feature relating to the reform process, the paper had brought out the vulnerabilities of Indian industry in a highly competitive environment and a need for the domestic corporates to meet the new dimension of competition with vastly enhanced and matching performance. On macro-economic planning in the country, it has always articulated the need to focus on alleviation of poverty not as a trickle down benefit but as a central plank of public policy. Industry, as we see, is being driven by technology both in products and processes. The same is the case with agriculture with modified gene seeds, nutrient coated slow release seeds, harvesting or storage and preservation and variations in multi-cropping patterns. Awareness of such technology at all levels assumes great significance. Contributions on a carefully evaluated basis for quality of content should continue to appear in the columns as they relate to industry and even more so for agriculture to give a sense of direction. When reporting on a company's performance and future plans, an objective overview and constructive criticism will be of benefit both to the company and the shareholding public. When policies affecting industrialists are commented upon by The Hindu/Business Line, I have often noticed the emergence of a clearer dimension. I recollect with nostalgia the periodical reporting of Leo (P.A. Seshan) embellishing the business columns of The Hindu during his period. The views expressed by him were objective, devoid of sensationalism. Political news and happenings with myriad dimensions provide for any newspaper its main contents. Handling these with skill in terms of presentation and expression providing either favourable or adverse comments should have constancy of purpose even if on occasion it increases the journal's vulnerability. If one were to look at the extent of social and charitable work being done all over the country by individuals and institutions in the areas of social upliftment, education and sustaining cultural values, you find many a commitment for such worthy causes from small groups, for the benefit and prosperity of the under privileged. This area is definitely one where every faith, religion and community is involved. I would like to commend that such work is consistently brought to focus and propagated to the public for their understanding and support. The Hindu has always been looked upon for its expert views in its coverage of sports, both indoor and outdoor. Despite TV coverage the reading public will wait to see what The Hindu has to say — cricket, racing and tennis are the examples. Coverage in The Hindu's International editions, Sportstar, Frontline and annual surveys and special supplements always had evoked much interest with the readership. It is but appropriate as the institution celebrates its major milestone, to acknowledge and pay tribute to the people who have propelled the growth of the institution from its small beginnings to its present status as a national and international newspaper of the country. I would like to mention with reverence K. Srinivasan, K. Gopalan, G. Narasimhan and G. Kasturi for their extraordinary contributions to dissemination of knowledge worldwide through this paper. The present generation of the family members has maintained assiduously the standards and values, steering the publication through many a change spanning decades. I have taken the liberty of mentioning not only what The Hindu has meant for me but also what it should for the readership at large. I wish to convey to the Directors, the Editor-in-Chief, the Editors and the entire operating team, not only my own but also the Amalgamations Group's best wishes for the success of all their endeavours in the years to come. (The writer is Chairman, Amalgamations Group.)
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