Stating that Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar were among the great’s journalists of our, firebrand journalist and Magsaysay award winner Mr P Sainath said that this was because they interacted and wrote about the processes of the time.

“As of today important processes of our time are the human development index and the fact that there is so much malnutrition among children. We have nine percent growth by rank 134 in the human index and have more malnutrition then sub Saharan Africa,” he said, pointing out that this is rarely covered in mainstream media.

He also said that as a member of a government committee their findings on poverty were that 54 per cent of the population were below poverty level.

Pointing to the irony of India producing a one lakh car, he said that India had to pay Rs 104 rupees for tur dal.

Mr P Sainath was speaking on the theme of the ‘Changing face of Media’ at the National Press Day Function at Ravindra Bhavan where he touched on various aspects of media over the years, picking out points like the decline in unions for journalists in the last 20 years, as well as the commercialization, corporatization and even corruption in Media, giving an example of the coverage of the recent twenty-twenty cricket extravaganza.

Later on, addressing the journalists, the Chief Minister Mr Digambar Kamat asked them to get their facts right before filing their stories as well as highlight and support the positive measures that authorities undertook.

The Chief Minister  said that he felt that journalists should realize that they are the part of the society and not disconnected from it “The role of the fourth estate is vital in democracy and should be to promote moral values and strengthen social fabric,” he said.

The national press day, celebrated to commemorate the foundation day of Press Council of India, also saw the Chief Minister asking journalist to play a positive role, dig into their conscience and support Government initiatives when they are in the interest of the state, its people or the society at large. “One must try to become a good human being to solve the problems of the people,” he opined.

Listing the measures taken by the government for the of Media persons the Chief Minister said that a new scheme titled Patrakar krityanadtya Nidhi on the lines of Kalakar kritanadnyta Nidhi will be implemented before Goa Liberation Day. “The Laptop scheme for scribes has been notified and new press room has been set up in ESG Complex,” he said and added that he has asked concerned, Mr Swapnil Naik to submit the report on the assault on a South Goa photojournalist Mr Soiru Komarpant by November 25.

The Secretary, Information and Publicity, Mr Narendra Kumar asked journalists to keep prejudices out and highlight concerns of all classes of society effectively.  He said in the past 15 to 20 years media was confined to articulating the aspirations of middle class - be it upper, middle or upper middle class people. “Be sensitive to the people and the society in addressing the issues particularly of those who lost out in the growth of development,” the Secretary said and stressed the need to highlight labor issues as well as rights of the marginalised.

He also said that the reason for the Naxals reaching some 200 districts was the basic inequality where in the powerful could get away and recounted a story wherein a forest tribal was arrested for cutting a few bamboos from the forest while big business man were cutting tones of bamboos from the forests while paying the government a pittance.