Town that makes News

Officials of the Directorate of Information say Surendranagar has the highest number of publications in the state. 8216;8216;There are 71 registered with us including three dailies. There are numerous weeklies and fortnightlies of which we know of at least 90,8217;8217; says deputy director of information Harshad Thakar.

Of the 161 publications, only three dailies and about 4 weeklies are published regularly. 8216;8216;The rest are all erratic. The editors wait till they have enough government and local advertisements before going to press. Often you don8217;t see the weeklies for a couple of months,8217;8217; says Bhanubhai Shukla, editor of the 24-page Samay weekly, an accepted publication with a circulation of 7,000 copies. The only other weekly that is widely read is Navkar with about 7,000 copies.

Journalism is almost a cottage industry here. Ratilal Yadav is editor of Kathiawad Samachar Weekly while his wife Nirmalaben Yadav is editor of Yuvavanchan Samachar Weekly. Both their office address is their house 8216;Harsiddhi Krupa8217; behind Alankar in Surendranagar. Shilpaben Jain is editor of Shabdhmangal Weekly. Her office address is the family8217;s shop8212;Prabhat Sweet Mart at Vadilal Chowk. The office of Khabardhar Weekly is a kerosene outlet near the district collector8217;s office. One editor types applications for people outside the district collector8217;s office.

With so many publications vying for space, there is obviously a problem with names too. Surendranagar probably has a newspaper named after each of its talukas. There is Lakhtar Times, Dhrangadhra Times, Panchal Bhoomi, Muli Times, Zalawad Today, Limbadi Times, Surendranagar Times, District Times, Joravarnagar Times, Sayla Times and Kathiawad Samachar.

And some newspaperwallahs obviously let their imagination choose the names of their publications. So some of the weeklies are called Hawai Mahal, Jadugar, Naari Ka Udhar, Mard, Operation, Light, Bulandi, Nadi Na Kante river banks, Gayatri Mandir, Top News Citizen, Sunday to Sunday, Samay Hamara hai and Jaagte Raho. Addresses of many of the publications are paan shops, garages, kiosks, shops and STD PCOs.

With such a large number of papers, it8217;s hardly surprising that Health Minister I K Jadeja feels intimidated when he addresses press conferences in Surendranagar. Jashubhai Mehta, editor of the eveninger Janyug Dainik, says: 8216;8216;The joke in Surendranagar is if you are unemployed you become an editor. Once you get the press accreditation card and government advertisements start flowing, whether you print 50 copies or 100 it does not matter after that. There are paan shop owners, garagewallas and snackstall vendors who are editors here because they can earn some extra money.8217;8217;

According to some journalists, shop owners and petty businessmen start their own papers to escape police harassment and to use them as a cover for their illegal businesses. 8216;8216;That is why you will find an illegal kiosk or shop in the middle of the road which is also the office of a weekly,8217;8217; says editor Bhaubhai Shukla.

But how do so many publications survive? Shaan Jaipuri, ghazal singer and editor of Kadam Dainik, a one-page daily published from Surendranagar says: 8216;8216;Funds come from small advertisements issued by local business establishments. The amount is not much because they have to take care of so many publications. Usually it is a long-term tie-up with the client who gets cheap publicity.8217;8217;

Jaipuri, who has cut an album recently, launched his own newspaper because he wanted to promote poetry.

With so many publications, one would think there would be a massive readership. But according to Directorate of Information, the combined circulation of these 161 publications is not more than 20,000 copies. 8216;8216;Accept the three dailies and a couple of good weeklies none of the others are meant for readers. About 50 or 60 copies are published for official distribution,8217;8217; says Jashubhai Mehta.

The Surendranagar district collectorate receives about 60 applications every year for starting publications. 8216;8216;We send the applications to the Registrar of Newspapers of India, New Delhi. Earlier, a number of titles used to be cleared. Now the state government has become a little strict. Only four titles were cleared last year out of 58 applications,8217;8217; says resident deputy collector M R Kothari. Clearly, this is one town that8217;s hooked to news.