Ujala Jhadi A Newwpaper For Village Folk
By
Madhav Raghavan
A rural newspaper in Rajasthan serves villages with news they
can use, because even regional language papers often do not serve all the needs
of rural readers.
Do-gooders worry that the Coke-Pepsi war will foist these beverages upon rural
folk through the sheer power of advertising. But in Rajasthan a rural
newspaper, Ujala Chadi, has taken up the battle. A monthly newspaper published
from Jaipur, its literal meaning is ¿wand of light¿, and it is attempting to be
just that for the people of this state. Its purpose is to serve the needs of
all those who get left out of the mass media market. In this month¿s issue,
Ujala Chadi has described the Pepsi-Coke war, and how it threatens our country.
The translated headlines reads, "The people may live or die, but Pepsi and
Coke will make their profit." The article attempts to tell the people how
to avoid getting drawn in by the glamorous advertising, and to stick to their
own tastes.
This newspaper is the fruit of the labours of many
social activists in Rajasthan, and is a result of experiments with the Adult
Literacy Programme and the Women¿s Development Programme. Vividha, a centre
working for women¿s rights in Jaipur, has been publishing this journal since
1993.
"Even regional language papers often do not
serve all the needs of rural readers", says Mamta Jaitly, a leading
activist with Vividha, in an article in The Hindu. "Their definition of
news leaves out much of what people in villages want and need to know about
their own surroundings. Their style of presentation is also often not suitable
for the person who can barely read. So we asked ourselves, why not a people¿s
paper? We do not claim neutrality, we are on the side of the deprived segments
of society - the lower castes, women, minorities - and committed to supporting
all struggles for social justice."
Initially, 4,000 copies of the paper was distributed free of cost - supported
by a fund from the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. But after a
decision not to depend on external funds, the Ujala Chadi was priced at Rs 2,
and 3,000 copies a month are being sold.
But although this pays for printing costs, it barely provides anything by way
of salary for all those working on the paper. Hence they have to depend on
other projects and trusts - like the Ratan Tata Trust - for their salary.
Those wanting to serve rural needs must keep one
thing in mind. The people need to be familiar with the medium involved. This is
why the "cyber-dhaba", bold and innovative though it is, will only
achieve a certain degree of success. In the end, it is only the trusty
newspaper or journal, passed from hand to hand, read by many, that is the
answer.
For this reason, journals like the Ujala Chadi are extremely valuable. It tries
to provide the rural citizenry with the information they need - immediate
concerns of daily life - in a style and language that they are familiar with.
The articles in Ujala Chadi mainly deal with the immediate concerns of the
villagers. There are interviews with Mahila sarpanchs who have fought their way
into power, overcoming all obstacles, including the male relatives who wanted
them there as puppets under their own power. The April issue carries an article
on how the drought-stricken Adivasis in Rajasthan are on the brink of a
movement against the government. In its pages, one can also find stories of
survival, courage