National Herald building in Lucknow houses eye hospital

Just the land on which the 35,000 sq ft property stands is estimated to be worth about Rs 100 crore

Far from the din in Parliament over court summons to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi over the National Herald case, a small building near the historic Kaiserbagh intersection is bustling with activity.

This refurbished building once housed three newspapers: National Herald (English), Qaumi Awaaz (Urdu) and Navjivan (Hindi), all published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) in Lucknow.

The block has been leased to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, which runs the Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Centre (IGEHRC), which provides ophthalmological care at subsidised rates.

Some portions of the building have been redone to accommodate the requirements of a medical centre.

National Herald started publishing from Lucknow in 1938. The Urdu and Hindi editions were launched in 1946 and 1948, respectively. The three newspapers started facing operational trouble in the 1990s and, finally, shut down in 1999.

At the time of its inception, AJL had procured land from where an English-medium school, Church Mission Birkett High School, was run previously. The land was redeveloped and the newspaper was launched in Lucknow.

The eye hospital occupies only about a fourth of the total property owned by AJL. The rest of the multi-storied building is retail space, much of which lies vacant.

THE LUCKNOW JOURNEY

• 1938: National Herald starts publication in Lucknow
• 1946: Qaumi Awaaz (Urdu) starts publication in Lucknow
• 1948: Navjivan (Hindi) starts publication in Lucknow
• 1999: The National Herald newspaper closes down in Lucknow
• 2002: The National Herald building catches fire; a case is filed by AJL against the district administration
• 2007: National Herald management and staff reach agreement over payment of wages
• 2008: The Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Centre starts functioning on the premises of National Herald

One part of the sprawling 35,000-square foot property overlooks the Kaiserbagh intersection, with a Bharat Petroleum retail outlet across the road. The portion used by the eye hospital opens to a narrow lane in a middle-class neighbourhood and a police post nearby. Tea stalls, pan shops and a two-wheeler stand complete the picture.

A Lucknow-based architect said, on condition of anonymity, that the land was situated in a prime location and could be worth almost Rs 100 crore at commercial rates.

Following the shutdown of the newspaper, the Uttar Pradesh Working Journalist Union had challenged the closure in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court. The case went on for years before an agreement was reached between the employees and the management in 2007.

Under the agreement, the employees were reimbursed legal fees, apart from 50 per cent of the arrears. “This had benefited all the 350-odd employees at that time,” Union president and journalist Haseeb Siddiqui told Business Standard. He was associated with Navjivan at the time the newspaper shut down.

In 2002, when the AJL property was sealed and was in the district administration’s possession owing to the case, a fire broke out in which several items were gutted. A court case relating to the fire and the demand for compensation from the district administration is pending in Lucknow.
 
Meanwhile, there are talks of extending the eye hospital to the adjoining unused portion of AJL property, and converting the underground portion into a commercial parking lot.