Bhandare asks journos to be pro-poor

"The media has an important role to inform the government about the problems being faced by society for their redressal. Hence, it is imperative that the journalists function without any fear or prejudice so that the society at large benefits," Bhandare told a function organised here to mark National Press Day.

He suggested that journalists stress on problems being faced by the lower strata of society. Finance Prafulla Ghadei lamented that in most cases, the media failed to safeguard the interest of the common people as majority of them were controlled by political parties and industrialists.

The governor also felicited several senior journalists and gave away the Rabi Narayan Memorial Shield to Gourhari Das, the top student in the 2010 batch of journalism of Utkal University. Health insurance bonds were given to 200 journalists.