Maha nod for building memorials of noted journalists

The Maharashtra government today approved construction of a memorial for Balshastri Jambhekar, considered pioneer of Marathi journalism, at his native place in the coastal Konkan region.

Jambhekar had started the Marathi newspaper "Darpan" in 1832.

The state government has also accorded an in-principle approval for constructing memorial of Baburao Vishnu Paradkar, eminent Hindi editor and journalist, in his native village in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra, an official said.

A pioneer of Hindi journalism, Paradkar (1883-1955) hailed from Parad village in Sindhudurg district and chose Varanasi as his workplace.

While working in the holy city of Uttar Pradesh, he became editor of Hindi daily 'Aaj' and coined hundreds of Hindi words which were not in existence during the British rule in India.

The decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here, the official said.

Mumbai Press Club, which had been demanding such a measure and had met the chief minister in this regard, expressed happiness over the decision.

"We thank Fadnavis for taking a positive decision and expect him to expedite the two projects," Press Club chairman Dharmendra Jore said.

In the monsoon session of the state legislature held at Nagpur last month, the state government had tabled supplementary demand of Rs 15 crore for the implementation of a pension scheme, called Acharya Balshastri Jambhekar Sanman Yojana, for senior journalists in the state.