Voice Of The Masses From People In Power

On Tuesday, January 03, 2006, the University of Calcutta Centenary Auditorium at the Asutosh Shiksha Prangan hosted the fortieth anniversary celebrations of the Bengali daily, ‘Ganashakti’.

‘Ganashakti’ editor Narayan Dutta emphasized on the view that newspapers cannot be dissociated from society and history.

Pointing out that socialist ideals are gaining prominence in Latin American countries, noted politician Anil Biswas regarded credibility as the most important aspect of journalism. Having said that industrialization cannot accrue from feudalism or semi-feudalism, he held the view that a new revolution will emerge from industrial socialism.

Reminiscing through the creative process that went into the foundation of ‘Ganashakti’, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee emphasized on its anti-imperialist stance. Denouncing blind fundamentalism, he stressed on such processes of nation-building as development of rural economy including land reform, self-reliance, independent foreign policy, among others. He was of the opinion that capital is needed for industrialization and infrastructure development, which would lead to employment generation and income enhancement, especially if due support is provided to agro-based and small and medium-scale industries. On the one hand, he dwelt on increasing the literacy rate through increased emphases on such schemes for basic education as ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ and mid-day meal, and on the other he stressed on increased support for the unorganised labour sector. He laid stress on highlighting the positive aspects of health administration in the state, trying to do off with the sensationalisation of negative aspects of the state healthcare. Dwelling on urbanization with consideration to the interests of the slum-dwellers, he zeroed down on his stance against opportunist power-mongering politics.

While Anil Biswas, Biman Bose and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee gave away prizes to the leading buyers of ‘Ganashakti’, PLT presented a performance of ‘Bibighar’.