New Delhi, July 28: Bucking the global recessionary trends in the media, India, the world’s most populous democracy, boasts of 74,000 newspapers – with Uttar Pradesh leading the rest of the country in promoting a diversity of views.
“More than 74,000 newspapers are registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI),” Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Mohan Jatua said in a written reply during question hour in the Lok Sabha Tuesday.
Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of registered newspapers at 11,789, followed by Delhi with 10,066 and Maharashtra with 9,127, according to the information given by the minister.
The government is also trying to bridge the “media gap” by encouraging more newspapers to come up in the northeastern states, the information and broadcasting ministry said in a separate statement.
The ministry has also relaxed norms for empanelling newspapers published in the northeastern states and the border areas.
This apart, Rs.87.95 crore has been allocated during fiscal 2009-10 for the North East Special Package, the statement said, adding: “An amount of Rs.37.00 crore is to be provided as grants-in-aid and an amount of Rs.50.95 crore as loan to Prasar Bharati for improving radio and television facility in the North East.”
–IAns