Sunday, January 15, 2006
Some observations and suggested plan of actions on the NIS issue - I
Dear all:
I was in Bhubaneswar during Dec 21- Jan 10th and talked to various people
on the NIS issue. Following are some of my observations and suggested plan of
actions.
1. The media in Bhubaneswar is very aware of the issue and have covered it in local papers
(and local editions of national papers) quite a bit. However, despite the local journalists
sending in many articles, the national papers have not covered it in their national editions that much.
Candidly many journalists suggested me that we write en-masse to the national papers
accusing them of neglecting to cover this issue and that may have an impact. I would suggest we do that.
2. Agamee Orissa has a done a great job and has a great plan
in bringing awareness of this issue (and the bigger picture) to the district level in Orissa. They have
lots of plans on this issue and they will bring it out as time unfolds.
3. There has been a few national coverage of this issue. I suggest that we seize them as opportunities
and write to those papers with additional articles on that issue, letters to the editor etc,
Normally, it is easier to publish on an ongoing topic in the newspaper than on a new topic.
So the papers that have already covered the issue have a higher chance of following it up
with more coverage. The particular coverages are:
(i) An article in Hindustan Times http://iiser.blogspot.com/2006/01/hindustan-times-on-nov-29-arjun-on.html
(ii) A follow-up article in Hindustan times http://iiser.blogspot.com/2006/01/hindustan-times-on-december-14th-arjun.html
(iii) An editorial in Pioneer http://iiser.blogspot.com/2005/12/pioneers-editorial-on-orissa-and-nis.html
(iv) An op-ed piece in Hindu Businessline http://iiser.blogspot.com/2006/01/central-institutions-and-regional.html
From (ii) it seems that after (i) appeared the Hindustan Times received a reply from the HRD ministry and as a result they published the article (ii).
This means that coverage in papers like TOI and HT, which have very high Delhi readership, result in a reaction. *Thus we must follow-up and respond to (ii).* I sent in a response,
but nothing so far. My response is at http://iiser.blogspot.com/2006/01/letter-to-editor-of-hindustan-times.html
I suggest others should also write to HT at letters@hindustantimes.com
salil@hindustantimes.com
Similarly we shoudl write in response to (iii) and (iv) at
the addresses feedback@dailypioneer.com and
bleditor@thehindu.co.in
Please feel free to use the information in the booklet at
http://www.baral.us/nis3.pdf and also the blog site
http://iiser.blogspot.com
4. In regards to Times of India i was suggested that we shoudl write to
the addresses ranjan.roy@timesgroup.com
anand.soondas@timesgroup.com
toieditorial@timesgroup.com
editet@timesgroup.com
complaiing why it does not cover this issue in its national
editions.
5. Orissa MPs plan to continue their effort when the Parliament reconvenes in February.
They should all have copies of the booklet for their own purpose as well as for
giving it to their colleagues so as make them aware of the issue.
6. Please send the booklet (or the link to it) to as many Oriyas and Indians as possible.
7. Please broadcast this message to as many Oriyas as possible.
8. Finally, I think the time has come to broaden this issue and campaign for eliminating the
imbalance in HRD National Highways across various states in India. See Chapter 3 of the booklet
and http://iiser.blogspot.com/2006/01/imbalance-with-respect-to-hrd-national.html for some initial analysis.
More on this in later mails. Keep tuned to myodisa, ornet, agami orissa, and nis_iiser groups.
Thanks and best regards
Chitta
(ps -- Our efforts in bringing the issue to national media has bore some fruit. While a single article is
often ignored, a series of articles is often not ignored. Lets keep the pressure on and follow-up on the ones that
got published and try to convince new ones to publish on this issue. )
I was in Bhubaneswar during Dec 21- Jan 10th and talked to various people
on the NIS issue. Following are some of my observations and suggested plan of
actions.
1. The media in Bhubaneswar is very aware of the issue and have covered it in local papers
(and local editions of national papers) quite a bit. However, despite the local journalists
sending in many articles, the national papers have not covered it in their national editions that much.
Candidly many journalists suggested me that we write en-masse to the national papers
accusing them of neglecting to cover this issue and that may have an impact. I would suggest we do that.
2. Agamee Orissa has a done a great job and has a great plan
in bringing awareness of this issue (and the bigger picture) to the district level in Orissa. They have
lots of plans on this issue and they will bring it out as time unfolds.
3. There has been a few national coverage of this issue. I suggest that we seize them as opportunities
and write to those papers with additional articles on that issue, letters to the editor etc,
Normally, it is easier to publish on an ongoing topic in the newspaper than on a new topic.
So the papers that have already covered the issue have a higher chance of following it up
with more coverage. The particular coverages are:
(i) An article in Hindustan Times http://iiser.blogspot.com/2006/01/hindustan-times-on-nov-29-arjun-on.html
(ii) A follow-up article in Hindustan times http://iiser.blogspot.com/2006/01/hindustan-times-on-december-14th-arjun.html
(iii) An editorial in Pioneer http://iiser.blogspot.com/2005/12/pioneers-editorial-on-orissa-and-nis.html
(iv) An op-ed piece in Hindu Businessline http://iiser.blogspot.com/2006/01/central-institutions-and-regional.html
From (ii) it seems that after (i) appeared the Hindustan Times received a reply from the HRD ministry and as a result they published the article (ii).
This means that coverage in papers like TOI and HT, which have very high Delhi readership, result in a reaction. *Thus we must follow-up and respond to (ii).* I sent in a response,
but nothing so far. My response is at http://iiser.blogspot.com/2006/01/letter-to-editor-of-hindustan-times.html
I suggest others should also write to HT at letters@hindustantimes.com
salil@hindustantimes.com
Similarly we shoudl write in response to (iii) and (iv) at
the addresses feedback@dailypioneer.com and
bleditor@thehindu.co.in
Please feel free to use the information in the booklet at
http://www.baral.us/nis3.pdf and also the blog site
http://iiser.blogspot.com
4. In regards to Times of India i was suggested that we shoudl write to
the addresses ranjan.roy@timesgroup.com
anand.soondas@timesgroup.com
toieditorial@timesgroup.com
editet@timesgroup.com
complaiing why it does not cover this issue in its national
editions.
5. Orissa MPs plan to continue their effort when the Parliament reconvenes in February.
They should all have copies of the booklet for their own purpose as well as for
giving it to their colleagues so as make them aware of the issue.
6. Please send the booklet (or the link to it) to as many Oriyas and Indians as possible.
7. Please broadcast this message to as many Oriyas as possible.
8. Finally, I think the time has come to broaden this issue and campaign for eliminating the
imbalance in HRD National Highways across various states in India. See Chapter 3 of the booklet
and http://iiser.blogspot.com/2006/01/imbalance-with-respect-to-hrd-national.html for some initial analysis.
More on this in later mails. Keep tuned to myodisa, ornet, agami orissa, and nis_iiser groups.
Thanks and best regards
Chitta
(ps -- Our efforts in bringing the issue to national media has bore some fruit. While a single article is
often ignored, a series of articles is often not ignored. Lets keep the pressure on and follow-up on the ones that
got published and try to convince new ones to publish on this issue. )
# posted by chitta @ 2:09 AM 
