Chief Minister Raman Singh on Saturday said that The Pioneer was not only one of the oldest newspapers in the country, it was also a ‘newspaper with a vision.’
In a short span of two years, The Pioneer’s Raipur edition has been able to build a sizeable reputation for itself compared to all other newspapers that started publication in Chhattisgarh during the past four to six years.Singh was speaking as the chief guest at the symposium titled ‘Rising Chhattisgarh’ organised on occasion of the second anniversary of The Pioneer’s Raipur edition at Hotel Babylon Inn here.
The CM said that President Pranab Mukherjee during his visit had displayed keen interest in knowing about the development story of Chhattisgarh and was pleased to know about world-class infrastructure, eco-friendly development projects and use of solar energy to power official buildings in Naya Raipur.Singh appreciated the Editor-in-Chief of The Pioneer and Rajya Sabha member Chandan Mitra and the Resident Editor of The Pioneer in Raipur, Sujeet Kumar, for their vision behind making the newspaper achieve new heights in Chhattisgarh.
Mitra said The Pioneer had always strived to maintain regular exchange of ideas and generate content which stimulated thoughtful discussion among readers. “We welcome praises and critics in the process. I have been a keen observer of Chhattisgarh for long and unlike other States, where development has its negative aspects such as crime, the change in Chhattisgarh is very positive,” he added.
The Rajya Sabha member credited the development of the State to political stability and added that Naya Raipur had a developed infrastructure well in advance which was key for development of any city. “It has already emerged as a ‘Smart City’ on the lines of smart cities envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Mitra said.
However, he said several such cities would be needed in Chhattisgarh as a number of people living in cities would go up from the present 30 per cent to 70 per cent by 2050.The State had done extremely well in the domain of agriculture but value addition needs to be done by promoting processing and packaging to augment the income of farmers, he said. He advised the State Government to form a ‘think tank’ or a Commission on infrastructure development.
Mitra declared on the occasion that a forum called ‘Group of Thinkers’ (GoT) would be formed with 110 members in Raipur. The forum conceptualised by the Resident Editor Sujeet Kumar would include IAS and IPS officers besides representatives from the corporate world. Speaker of Chhattisgarh Assembly Gaurishankar Agrawal in his address said The Pioneer has played a key role in getting recognition for Chhattisgarh across the country.
Chhattisgarh which earlier carried an image of the ‘State of labourers’ has transformed itself into a ‘Rising State’ within a short span of a decade under the able leadership of the Chief Minister, he said.Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal said The Pioneer should try to convey the message of Chhattisgarh across the country.He said being an English language newspaper, it would help the new generation by catering to them and helping them in their development.
Vice-president of Jindal Steel and Power ltd (JSPl) and chairman of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), Chhattisgarh Chapter, Pradeep Tandon said the State had reached a point where it had achieved a lot but things were paralysing now. “A paradigm shift is needed with new ideas to maintain the rate of development,” he said, adding, “all sectors including industry should be catered.”
PP Singh of Makhanlal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal said the unique character of The Pioneer is that it took stand on issues and took the quest to the final stage. He said that Chhattisgarh had comparatively developed at a greater pace than other States such as Jharkahand and Uttarakhand formed at the same time.Earlier, chairman of The Pioneer’s Raipur edition, Vijay Budhiya welcomed the guests while general manager Suryakant Tiwari proposed a vote of thanks.