National Press Day is being celebrated across the country on Saturday to honour the essential role of a free and responsible press in society. It was on this day in 1966 that the Press Council of India began its operations as a moral watchdog to ensure that the press maintains high standards and is not unduly influenced or threatened.

The day not only celebrates the achievements of the press but also reinforces the responsibility it carries in building a more informed and transparent society. This year’s National Press Day is observed with the theme “Changing Nature of the Press”, reflecting the evolving dynamics of the media landscape.

While, despite a palpable apathy among media persons the National Press Day, the day of commencement of the functioning of the Press Council in 1966, was observed on Saturday in Agartala  jointly by the department of Information and Cultural Affairs (ICA) and Agartala Press Club in the Hall No-2 of Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan through a session of discussion as well as awarding of senior most journalists of the state.

Altogether four senior most journalists , namely, Biman Dhar , Chitra Roy, Supriya Datta and Mohit Paul were awarded with a citation each, ‘Angvastra’ and Rs 5 thousand in cash. While Biman Dhar who is out of the state remained absent, the other three were given away the awards by Minister for Sports and Youth affairs, Tinku Roy, secretary ICA department  Dr Pradip Chakraborty, veteran journalist Sekhar Datta, High Court judge Arindam Lodh and Agartala Press Club president Jayanta Bhattacharjee. Ms Chitra Roy turned out to be the first woman journalist in the state to be awarded for lifetime achievement by the state government.

In the session of discussion the ICA secretary Dr Pradip Chakraborty and veteran journalist Sekhar Datta dwelt at length on the evolution of the media from the early ages to the present age of super technology including artificial intelligence that may impact the media professions in future.

The president of Agartala Press Club Jayanta Bhattacharjee also pointed out the epoch-making and fast-paced changes taking place in the media . Justice Arindam Lodh, a sitting judge of the High Court of Tripura, also lucidly threw light on the changes in the media , reminiscing his late father and senior advocate Apangshu Mohan Lodh’s contribution to the profession and the launching of his English daily ‘Tripura Times. What sounded heartening for the audience is how once late Apangshu Mohan Lodh had composed and circulated a hand-written newspaper ‘Amader Gram’ among people in his native village in erstwhile East Pakistan and how he launched ‘Tripura Times’ as a weekly at Agartala before upgrading it to a daily.

The Minister for sports and youth affairs Tinku Roy discussed in detail the implication of technology upgradation in media and how it can impact people. He also expressed the fear that invasion of hyper technology may also lead to retrenchment of newsmen from media organizations. He also dwelt at length on the welfare programmes being implemented by the state government for the benefit of media persons in the state.