On the occasion of the National Press Day, a media-administration interface was held here. The theme was “Transparency in Public Affairs-Role of Media”.
District Collector Dr Sashi Bhusan Padhi chaired the meeting, where around 70 scribes participated. Padhi said, “Senior bureaucrats like him are like visitors to the district as their stint of stay is very brief. They have to rely on the record keepers who are almost permanent in the district.”
He further lamented on delay in disposal of cases. “Nevertheless, technology has been a boon as far as transparency in public affairs is concerned. When a citizen does not become specific, the Public Information Officer becomes deterrent in charging high fees under the RTI Act. This law has been more beneficial to the Government servants than the public. One can always keep one’s option open for inspection of the required documents under RTI Act,” he said.
He opined that all records should be digitized and be in public domain so that they cannot be tampered. He lamented that sometimes some people do not want the service to be delivered fast. Senior Citizens Association president and scribe NN Padhi spoke vividly on media hype and yellow journalism. This is exactly the reason for which a fifth estate called ‘Citizen Journalism’ was emerging, he opined and stressed on minimum standards in journalism and ethics.
Zila Sambadika Sangha president Tah elaborated on several issues faced by journalists. Till there is no public participation in governance, transparency in public affairs would be futile exercise, he observed.
Dr D K Mohanty, Reader in Political Science from the Government Women’s College, cited the example of Bal Gangadhar Tilak who brought out a magazine called Keshari about the misrule of British Raj and created a deep impact over Indian mass. He could not even afford to attend the funeral of his wife for this cause, Mohanty said and expressed his concern about the criminalisation of politics.
He said that he still saw the heart of darkness which the scribes could eliminate. Among others, Kirti Sahu, Anubrat Bara, Bibhti Parida and Jogeswar Chaudhury spoke. The interface was attended by ADM Rayagada laxmikanta Behera, SP K Siva Subramani and PD DRDA Sri Satpathy. Vote of thanks was extended by DCO Jagannath Prasad Raiguru.