MPCC chief promises incentives for Urdu scribes

MUMBAI: The Congress seems to be on a wooing spree.
In a meeting with editors and journalists of Urdu newspapers on Saturday, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Manikrao Thakre said that Maharshtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Manikrao Thakre, at an exclusive meet with editors and journalists of Urdu newspapers on Saturday, said that Urdu dailies would not be left in the lurch in receiving government advertisements.
Thakre, who was recently appointed as MPCC's president for the second term, heard the grievances of the Urdu press at length and promised to bring about a change within the Urdu media.
Thakre's sympathizing with the Urdu press comes close on the heels of chief minister Prithiviraj Chavan's public advocacy for Urdu. Last month during the golden jubilee celebration of a city-based daily, Chavan had promised a string of incentives for the Urdu media.
He had also promised to provide land for a printing press at Navi Mumbai. But, nothing has materialized so far.
Despite this, Thakre told journalists that he would look into the demands made by them. The demands include, But that didn't stop the Congress's state chief to have an exclusive interaction with the Urdu journalists and make some promises that he would get fulfilled from the state government. The demands include subsidized housing for Urdu journalists, appointment of translators--both in the Mantralaya and the party offices--autonomy to Urdu Academy and construction of Urdu Bhavans in Mumbai, Aurangabad and a few other cities in the state.
"Urdu, like other Indian languages, deserves to grow. We will ask the government to ensure that the genuine grievances raised by Urdu journalists are met," said Thakre. He admitted that Urdu dailies were a good vehicle to reach the Muslim masses with schemes and policies aimed at the community's development.
Apart from the state Congress leaders, some leaders from the centre are also chipping in to use the platform of Urdu publications to establish dialogue with the Muslim masses. Union minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid is scheduled to chair the third anniversary function of city-based Urdu monthly Huda Times at Malad on June 2.
The anniversary celebrations, being facilitated by Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam and Congress MLA Aslam Sheikh, will see a battery of senior Urdu journalists speak on the condition of minorities and Urdu in the state. "As minority affairs minister, Salman Khurshid has a lot to answer. He will explain what his ministry has done so far and what it plans to do in the remaining three years of the UPA-2 regime," explained Nirupam. Even the Sachar Committee had recommended that Urdu needed special attention as the language, a symbol of our composite culture, was in a shambles.